Goodbye, Naruto
by Jays Arravan
Summary: A tragic event they never expected. An event that took from them a brother, a friend, and a beloved. Let us see how they cope with this tragedy. Naruhina Sasusaku Shikaino NejiTen
1. Goodbye, brother

**Author's Notes: Good day everybody!**

**This is my first ENGLISH Naruto fic. The first one is the Filipino version of this story. I hope you enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a story made using elements not belonging to the author. Such elements belong to their respected owners. Any similarities with other stories from other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.**

* * *

In a valley between the Fire country and Sound country, a duel is being fought. With every blow exchanged, a thunderous sound could be heard. Even from a distance one could feel the power emanating from the combatants. This was a fight to the finish. A fight to the death.

A fight between two friends.

One of the fighters was one Uchiha Sasuke. He was the last of the Uchiha, the family gifted with the Sharingan.

Anyone who has known him in the past would be surprised at his current form. His dark hair went down to his knees. His skin had the color of mud and a pair of hand shaped wings sprouted from his back.

All of this was because of the Cursed Seal on his shoulder.

His opponent was Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the demon Kyuubi.

Even his form was far from normal. His blue eyes were now blazing red, and had a slit running down the middle. The nails on his hands and feet were longer. Even the overall appearance of his body was different. He was bigger and more masculine.

These were but a few of the effect of him using the Kyuubi's charka.

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe what was happening. He knew he was stronger before. He already had the combined power of a level three Sharingan and a level two Cursed Seal. Yet even with all of this power, Naruto still had an equal footing with him.

'_Why?' _the young man asked himself _'No matter what I do, I still can't beat him. Why does he always manage to best me?_

_No. I'm stronger than him. I'll prove it. I'll defeat him. He's nothing. I'LL DEFEAT HIM.'_

On the other side, Naruto is also having an argument in his head. The only difference is that he isn't talking to himself.

'_I don't believe this. Sasuke's stronger now. If this goes on, I may not be able take it.'_

'**_Idiot. At the amount of charka you borrowed from me, you'll surely be defeated.'_** Kyuubi shouted at his container. **_'Why don't you use more? That insect won't stand a chance.'_**

'_Are you insane? I'm not planning to kill Sasuke.'_

'_**You may not be, but Sasuke is dead set in killing you.'**_

'_I know that. But still. I can't kill my friend.'_

'_**Come back to reality! He isn't the person you once knew. He ceased being your friend the moment he decided to go to the snake.'**_

'_I don't care. What ever happens, I won't kill Sasuke. I promised to Sakura that I would bring Sasuke back, and I always keep my promises.'_

'**_Bah! Suite yourself. Just remember that there's still another girl you gave your word to.'_**

Naruto went silent for a moment.

'_I know, Kyuubi. I know.'_

* * *

Their battle continued. Each of them gave their all. They used every jutsu they knew. All of their strength and will they put behind each attack just to make other stop.

After trading blows once again, the two separated. Both were tired and their bodies were full of wounds.

"That's enough, Sasuke." Shouted Naruto. "We shouldn't be fighting."

"Shut up, dobe!" answered Sasuke. "We will finish this now."

Sasuke began to gather chakra in his hands and made two Black Chidoris. He began to run straight towards his opponent. Naruto quickly began to spin charka on his hands. He readied the two Rasengans for the enemy's attack.

The two forces met in a violent collision. Neither one of them weakened.

"Why, Naruto? Why do you always manage to surpass me? Where do you get all this power?"

"Why is it that power is all you think about, Sasuke? Is your lust for it so strong that you turned your back on Konoha and your friends?"

"You don't understand anything. I want nothing more than to kill my brother, and to do that, I need power."

"Do you think that Orochimaru will give you what you want? Everything has a price. If you continue, you'll die."

"I don't care, Naruto. It's only through him that I can get the power that I need. Power that I will never get from Konoha or from such worthless things as friends."

"Sasuke, you bastard!"

Naruto increased the power to his Rasengans. He pushed Sasuke away from him. The blonde ninja quickly followed the last Uchiha and rained punches and kicks on him. For good measure, he slammed one of his Rasengans into his opponent's chest. This sent Sasuke flying a few meters into the surrounding forests.

Naruto went to were Sasuke was lying.

"Do you know, Sasuke? Sakura is crying right this instant. When you left, she was crying when she asked me to bring you back. When I failed, she mourned the lost of you for a long time.

After that, she began to train harder. She's now studying under old lady Tsunade. You should have seen her. She's stronger now. She could now use Kuchiyose and summon slugs.

But she's still mourning until now. Every night she would call your name in her dreams. Every time she wakes up she would cry because she knows you're not there beside her. I could clearly see the sorrow in her eyes."

The blonde began shouting at this point.

"Don't you get it? She still loves you."

Silence ruled among the two. Neither spoke for a long time.

"Why?"

Naruto was taken back by what Sasuke said. Sadness and confusion was clearly heard in his words.

"Why do you care so much about what happens to me? I turned my back on all of you. But you, Naruto, you're still trying to bring me back. And Sakura, up 'til now she still loves me. Even with all those times I cast her aside, she's still there.

Why, Naruto? Why?"

Naruto couldn't help but smile.

"Don't you know it Sasuke? You're the one who said it before."

Sasuke looked up. The blonde ninja continued to talk. Tears could be clearly seen flowing down his cheeks.

"We're one, Sasuke. Do you still remember that test we had with sir Kakashi? We are one. And that will never ever change."

"We're one" whispered Sasuke "You, me, and Sakura. The three of us are one."

"Sakura." the young man looked at his hands. "You know, Naruto, I miss her. Every moment I'm awake I expect her to run up to me and ask me to a date or whatever. I keep looking for her smiles, her voice, the sparkle in her eyes."

He looked up at the sky.

"For so long I've wanted to hold her. For so long I've wanted to kiss her. For so long I've wanted to tell her how much I care for her…

…how much I love her."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. A sad smile adorned his lips.

"Even you, dobe. I missed you. I never knew how more irritating it was not to hear your voice. It's only now that I realize how much I respected and regarded you as my friend…

…and as my brother."

Naruto was surprised at what he heard. Sasuke regarded him as his brother?

As this was happening, Sasuke's wings slowly began to shrink. His skin slowly turned back to its original color. The young man was returning to his old self.

"Naruto, brother, I surrender. I want to go home."

Naruto smiled. He stopped drawing chakra from Kyuubi and reverted back to his old form. He went to Sasuke and reach out his hand. Happiness could be seen in his face.

"Then, c'mon brother. Let's go home. When we get back to Konoha, I'll treat you to ramen."

"How touching."

The two teens turned to where the voice came. In front of the was the Manda, leader of the snakes. A man with long dark hair and white skin stood on the giant snake's head.

"Orochimaru!"

"Congratulations, Naruto." The sannin of the snake said, "You were able to turn Sasuke away from me. You are the first person to do this to a servant of mine with a cursed seal. Unfortunately, you have to die for that."

Naruto faced the Otokage.

"Though luck, Orochimaru. Sasuke or the Sharingan will never be yours. And now, you're gonna pay for all the trouble you've put me through."

Beside the young man, Sasuke slowly stood up.

"Count me in, Naruto."

"W…wait a minute, Sasuke. If you fight, Orochimaru might just use the cursed seal on you."

"Don't worry. I can still use the Sharingan against him. Besides…"

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"Just because I've accepted you as my brother, doesn't mean I'll let you surpass me. Got that, dobe?"

The blonde just smiled.

"Suite yourself, bastard."

Battle was quickly joined. Naruto summoned Gamabunta to take care of Manda while he and Sasuke engaged Orochimaru.

Orochimaru knew the two young men had no hope against him. Both were tired and injured. Even Naruto has his limits. He had a plan. He still hasn't given up on Sasuke. But to achieve his goal he has to take care of a little obstacle.

The two genins attacked simultaneously. Their every movement flowed perfectly with the other's. They moved as one. But even this was not enough. Orochimaru was just too strong.

The sannin noticed that his enemies were starting to slow down. He decided to put his plan into motion. As Naruto approached he deflected his attack and kicked him aside. As expected, when he turned around Sasuke was charging at him.

Once again he deflected the attack. But instead of sending a direct attack, he placed his hand on the young man's shoulder and sent his charka towards the Cursed Seal. Sasuke screamed when he felt his shoulder seem to burn up.

"You bastard! Let him go."

Orochimaru turned to Naruto. He just smiled at him and through the now unconscious young man in his hands at him. Sasuke's comrade quickly caught him.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!. Wake up, Sasuke!"

"Don't worry. Your friend is still alive."

"You bastard snake. What did you do to him." the genin shouted at the sannin in front of him.

"Nothing much. I just used a very special genjutsu on him to help me get my hands on him again."

"In your dreams. I won't let you get Sasuke again."

Naruto quickly made two Rasengans and charged at his enemy. He intended to his the sannin's head but he just kept on dodging. Still, he pressed his attack. He was dead set on killing the sannin.

'_Yes, Naruto. Just like that. Just keep on attacking.'_

* * *

After a few moments Sasuke woke up. His entire body was aching. He felt like Chouji rolled over him.

'_What happened? Wait, Orochimaru!'_

Sasuke turned around and saw Orochimaru attacking Naruto. The young blonde was severely wounded and it was obvious that he was weakening. The sannin in the other hand was relentless in attacking with his sword.

'_Naruto! No!'_

Sasuke stood up and began to make a chidori. He poured all his remaining charka in this last attack. When he was ready he began to run towards the battle to help his friend.

"Naruto, I'm coming!"

Orochimaru turned to him.

"SASUKE, DON'T!"

* * *

Sasuke's entire body went cold. He never expected what happened. He knew he buried his chidori in Orochimaru's stomach. But in a blink of an eye it all changed.

Now his hand was buried in Naruto's body.

"Naruto? NO!"

A sickening sound was made as Naruto' body fell. Sasuke quickly caught him and began to try to stop the bleeding.

"No! No! This can't be happening. This wasn't what wanted."

"S…Sa…su…ke."

"Naruto, forgive me. I didn't know what happened. I swear I aimed for Orochimaru but…"

The young man couldn't continue. He couldn't even bring himself to look at his friend.

"Genjutsu. Orochimaru…used a…genjutsu…on your…cursed seal."

The young man still didn't budge.

"Forgive me, Naruto."

"There's…nothing to…forgive, Sasuke. It…wasn't…your fault."

Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. The young man looked at him.

"Sasuke…I'm…happy to…have…known you. You…and…our other…friends…you…who have…been…like a…family…to me."

"Don't worry Naruto. I'll bring you back to Konoha. Tsunade could still heal you."

Sasuke was saying this not only for Naruto, but also for himself. But he knew there was nothing he could do. They were too far away from Konoha, and his friend has alreadu lost too much blood.

"Thanks…anyway…Sasuke. You'll…have to…go back…now. Sakura…is waiting…for you."

"No. We're going back together, Naruto."

"I'm…sorry…Sasuke…but I…can't…do it."

Sasuke looked at him. Naruto had a far-away look on his eyes.

"Hinata…forgive…me…I…can't…fulfill…my…promise…to…you."

With these last words, Uzumaki Naruto died.

"Naruto. Naruto. Please don't do this to me. I can't take the lost of another brother. Naruto. Naruto…"

"NARUTO!"


	2. Mourning

**Disclaimer: The following is a story made using elements not belonging to the author. Such elements belong to their respected owners. Any similarities with other stories from other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.**

**A/N: Hindi ko nap o itutuloy yung Tagalog bersyon ng kwentong ito. 'ala kasing nag babasa, e.**

**

* * *

**Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee stood in front of Tsunade's desk. The occupants of the room were sad and quiet. It had been an hour since they returned to Konoha with the traitor Uchiha Sasuke… 

…and the cold dead body of Uzumaki Naruto.

"What happened, Shikamaru?" the Hokage asked.

"We don't know the details." The chuunin answered, "We were already too late. Orochimaru was gone and Sasuke was alone when we got there. Naruto was already…"

"Thank you, Shikamaru. That would be all."

The young man stood back. The woman's rage and sadness could be clearly heard in her words. The chuunins did not wait to be told twice. They quickly vacated the room.

"Leave me." Tsunade said to her assistants.

They too complied quickly. The fifth Hokage was left in a dark quiet room. After a few moments she did what anyone who lost a loved one would do…

…Tsunade cried the entire night.

* * *

The village of Konoha was celebrating that night. They weren't celebrating a victory or any reason that merits celebration. They were celebrating the death of one of their ninjas. 

They were celebrating the death of a hero.

In the entire village, there were only a few places were the people mourned. In the small Icharaku ramen stand, three people could be seen grieving the loss.

"I could still remember the times I treated him here after I would punish him." Iruka said sadly.

"He was my most loyal customer. Everything's gonna change now that he's gone." Said Teuchi, the shop's owner.

Ayame kept silent. She hasn't said a word since she found out that her favorite, loudmouth customer was dead. She had been quite smitten by him.

"Here you are, sir Iruka."

Hatake Kakashi sat down beside the chuunin and ordered something to eat. Silence reigned for a few moments.

"Why was he alone?" The chuunin said "Why was he allowed to go alone to Sasuke when we all know that how dangerous it was."

"He wasn't allowed to go alone." The jounin answered "He left even before a proper team was assembled. We all know Naruto. When it comes to certain things he's far too reckless."

At that moment a group of drunkards went by the small shop.

"Hey you there! Come join us. Let's drink and be merry now that the monster is dead."

Iruka quickly pulled out a kunai to finish off the one who spoke but was stopped by Kakashi.

"Don't. You'll only get yourself hurt."

Iruka tried to break free but the jounin's grip was too tight. A few moments later the group left, and Kakashi released the chuunin.

"Why did you stop me? I couldn't just stand by and let them soil Naruto's memory."

"If you did that there would be a fight. Besides, if the Hokage found out that you attacked civilians, you'll surely be punished."

Iruka remained silent. He put the kunai back and put his head on his hands.

"Your student fell in battle." Kakashi continued "I know how you…"

"You don't know how I feel!" shouted Iruka "Not once did you consider Naruto your student. That boy was like a son to me. To you, they were nothing more than soldiers. You yourself told me that."

The small shop went silent. Iruka was shaking in anger while Kakashi remained passive.

"Perhaps you're right." Kakashi said, and then turned away from the chuunin.

"I did treat them only as soldiers. Right from the start I didn't take teaching them that seriously. Often times I would only focus on Sasuke, as if Naruto and Sakura weren't there. I got caught up with being Sasuke's teacher, when I should have been the teacher of Team seven.

My father and the fourth taught me to be fair in all things. Now I know that I've failed them. I've shamed my father, my teacher, but most of all, I shamed myself because I had favorites. I owed Naruto a lot.

But you, sir Iruka, you were a fair teacher when Naruto was still learning under you. Naruto learned a whole lot more from you than he had from me. You were like a father to him. That's why I can't let one of his most precious people get into trouble.

I owe him that much."

At this point, Iruka couldn't do anything anymore. He began to cry where he sat.

* * *

The next day… 

In one of the training ground of Konoha, three ninja's were waiting for their teacher. Lee was diligently kicking one of the large tree logs, Tenten was shining her weapons, and Neji was leaning on a tree and sulking.

This was the ordinary routine for Team Taijutsu, except for a few things…

…Lee was silent…

…Tenten had tears in here eyes…

…and sadness was evident in Neji's open eyes.

With a great cry, Lee broke his tree trunk in half. The young man's irritation was evident.

"This shouldn't have happened!"

"We can't do anything now. What happened has happened. No matter how much you shout, it won't bring Naruto back." Neji answered.

"I also can't believe it." Tenten said "Naruto died, and at the hands of Sasuke. I can't believe things had to end this way."

"No matter what we believe, it won't change the truth. Uchiha Sasuke killed Uzumaki Naruto. Nothing will change that."

"Are you saying that what happened was their destiny?" shouted Lee.

"I'm not saying that, Lee." Answered the young Hyuuga.

"Liar. You're saying that it was their destiny to fight each other even though they were friends, and that one would die in the hands of the other. Don't deny it, Neji."

The Hyuuga's eyes narrowed. "Are you challenging me, Lee? Well then I accept."

Lee smiled. "No problem. I'll make you remember the lessons you should've learned from Naruto."

Tenten stood up. "Stop it, both of you. You're teammates. You shouldn't be fighting. Please, Neji, don't. You've just recovered from an illness. You shouldn't have gone with them in the first place."

The two young men didn't listen to her. In the blink of an eye they were racing towards each other.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The two immediately stopped. The three chuunin turned to see their teacher, Maito Gai.

"You'll only hurt yourselves with what you're doing." Shouted the jounin.

"But sir Gai…"

"Lee, shut up!"

Lee went silent. The jounin sighed and continued.

"I know that you're mad that you weren't able to help your friend. It is a great tragedy when the flame of youth is snuffed out, especially when it is a friend.

But whatever we do, we can't bring back the past. The flame that has been put out cannot be brought back. All we can do is to remember the warmth and light that it gave to us.

Lee, Neji, Naruto was your friend. Do you think he would like it if he found out you were getting hurt because of him?"

The young men kept silent.

"We don't have a mission today, and by what I've seen you won't be able to train properly. Why don't we just go home and cool our heads off? We'll meet each other again in three days."

"Sir Gai, what will we do in three days?" Tenten asked.

Gai turned to her. "In three days, Naruto will be buried."

* * *

Shikamaru was lying on top of a hill and watching the clouds. In the past, he loved doing this. It made him forget all his troubles. But now, it only reminded him more of it. 

'_I failed.'_ The chuunin said to himself.

'_I failed to save Naruto. That troublesome idiot just had to run off by himself. The Hokage already told him not to search for Sasuke alone.'_

A cloud shaped like a pig floated overhead.

'_If the time comes, will I be able to defend her? Will I be able to save her from the enemy? Will I be able to protect…'_

"Shikamaru!"

'_How troublesome.'_

Shikamaru turned his back to the origin of the voice, Yamanaka Ino.

"Here you are, Shikamaru."

"Ino, I don't have time for your loud mouth right now."

This surprised the young lady. "Well aren't you stingy today. I just came by to see how you were doing."

The young man kept silent.

"Shikamaru, are you okay?"

"What do you think, Ino?"

The young lady sat beside her teammate.

"It's not your fault. It's not every time a ninja is successful in a mission."

"You don't understand."

Shikamaru sat up. His back was still to Ino.

"My mission was to save a friend from eminent danger. This isn't just some random guy. This is a friend we're talking about. And I failed.

We weren't able to save Naruto in time. We weren't able to prevent his death. He was expecting back up, but we didn't get to him in time.

As the leader, it's my task to make sure the mission is successful. But instead I failed the Hokage, our friends, and most of all, Naruto.

I wasn't able to save him. What more if the people more important to me are in danger? What if I fail them?"

He turned to the young lady. Ino could see the tears welling up in Shikamaru's eyes.

"What if I fail you?"

Ino couldn't speak. She could say anything to lighten Shikamaru's burden. All she could do was to take the young man in her arms and mourn with him.

At the foot of the hill, Chouji and their teacher, Sarutobi Asuma, were watching the events unfold.

"I've never seen Shikamaru like that before."

"Shikamaru is going through the most painful thing a ninja could go through." The jounin said.

"What's that, sir Asuma?"

"For some ninjas, the success of the mission is the top priority. For others, it's the well being of their comrades that's more important.

Shikamaru failed to prevent the death of Naruto. And because Naruto died, the mission was a failure. Because of this he is feeling both the pain of failing a mission, and the greater pain of failing to save a friend."

Asuma lit another cigarette.

"The worse part is he's letting it affect him. Now he's thinking he can't protect the people important to him anymore. His confidence in himself has been completely destroyed. His afraid he might fail again since it could be Ino he would lose next.

He needs to get past this. If he doesn't what he's afraid of might just happen."

The jounin started to walk away.

"Chouji, I'll leave you tell them about Naruto's funeral."

The fat ninja turned back to his friends.

"I never knew Shikamaru had feelings for Ino."

* * *

In front of the Hyuuga compound stood two young men. One wore a grey parka with a small dog riding on the hood. The other wore a large, high collared coat and shades. Kiba and Shino were in front of the home of the most powerful clan in Konoha to check on their teammate, the Hyuuga heir, Hyuuga Hinata.

They were soon ushered in by a branch house member and was lead to the home of the main house. As they walked through a garden, they passed two quarreling kids. One was a girl with straight brown hair that went past her shoulders, and white eyes that were unmistakably Hyuuga. She was arguing with a boy the same age as her, sporting a green pair of goggles and a long scarf.

"I thought I told you never to say that name in this house!" the girl shouted

"What's the matter with you?" the boy shouted back, "What's wrong with me remembering my dead big brother."

"What's wrong? WHAT"S WRONG? YOU'RE BROTHER TOOK MY SISTER FROM ME!"

With that, the girl stormed out of the garden.

"Wasn't that Hinata's sister, and the third's grandson." Kiba asked his teammate.

"I believe so." Shino responded.

"Man, I thoughts ours were the only Hyuuga affected by what happened, but it looks like there's another."

"So it seems."

"Ahh, that idiot! He just had to go on alone like that. Didn't he think of the people who would be affected if he got killed?" Kiba snarled.

Shino remained silent.

As they came close to the house, they saw their instructor, Yuuhi Kurenai. The red eyed woman was talking to the Hyuuga head, Hyuuga Hiashi, the father of their teammate. The two's conversation ended as they got closer. Hiashi dismissed the branch house member and went inside the houses, leaving the jounin to talk to her subordinates.

"I'm sorry you two, but Hinata can't talk to you right now. She's…not feeling well."

"Wha…why? What's wrong with her."

"I'm not at liberty to reveal that, Kiba. For now, she just needs to be alone. Don't worry. I've told her father what will happen in three days. He'll pass the message."

"He will?" Kiba asked, "Doesn't he have any problems with Hinata going to Naruto's funeral?"

"Surprisingly, no he doesn't. He even said he'll take her there personally."

Even Shino was surprised by this news.

"Since when was he considerate of Hinata's feelings?"

* * *

An old man walked briskly trough the Hokage tower. He had long, spiky, white hair tied into a ponytail and a large scroll hanging down his back. He quickly mad his way to the Hokage's office.

As he neared the door he was met by a young woman holding a pig.

"Thank you for coming after such short notice, Jiraiya."

"No problem. What's wrong, Shizune?"

"She's been in there almost the entire day." Said the jounin as she looked at the office door. "She hasn't even come out to eat. I'm getting worried."

"Alright, I'll take care of it."

Jiraiya opened the door. Inside the room Tsunade was bent over her table. Surrounding her were several bottles of every kind of wine and liquor available. It was obvious from her state that she was drunk.

"Oy, Tsunade!"

The woman looked to him.

"Ah. Jiraiya, it's you."

From were he was standing, the old man could smell the liquor emanating from the woman's mouth.

"How is the information gathering?" Tsunade asked.

"Things are going fine." Answered Jiraiya. "I've gathered quite a good amount of info."

"And what brings you here? Perhaps you want to include me in your research?" the woman said, then winked as she showed off her chest to the man in front of her. (_AN: She's drunk after all._)

"I…er…Maybe some other time." Said the blushing Ero-sennin.

"Suite yourself. Come on, drink with me."

Jiraiya's face tuned serious.

"Tsunade, I think that's enough liquor for today."

"What are you saying, Jiraiya? I'm still good for another round."

"Tsunade, you've been at it for the entire day. Aren't you planning to go to work?"

"Bah! I'm the Hokage. I can do anything I want."

"This isn't how a Hokage acts." Jiraiya almost shouted.

The room fell silent. After a few moments Tsunade's laughter could be heard.

"Hahahaha. You know how a Hokage acts? Hahaha. By the way you speak you think you know how to be a Hokage. Hahahahaha. Well in that case…

…WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE THE JOB?"

Tsunade slammed at her desk, causing it to turn to dust. She tried to punch Jiraiya but because of her drunkenness she couldn't hit him. After a few more punches the old pervert was finally able to grab on to the Hokage's arms. The woman started to struggle.

"You bastard! Let go of me, Jiraiya!"

"Tsunade, that's enough. Stop this now."

"Shut up! You talk like you know the pain I'm going through. The pain you caused."

"You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."

"I know what I'm saying. If you took the job, then you wouldn't have been sent to bring me back. If you weren't sent, then we wouldn't have met that day. If we didn't meet then, then I would never have met…"

At that moment the woman stopped moving. She fell to her knees and began to cry.

"Why, Jiraiya. All the people close to me have died just because they wanted to be Hokage. Why? Is this position cursed? Is this Hokage's necklace I give them cursed? Am I cursed that all of the people I love must die?"

"That's nonsense you're talking about. You're not cursed." The old pervert said as he held the Hokage. Tsunade just put her head on Jiraiya's chest and kept on crying.

They were like this the entire night.

* * *

Naruto's burial… 

A small group has gathered in secluded part of the forest. Tsunade chose this spot with the help of Iruka so no one could defile Naruto's last resting place. Iruka chose this place as this was the place where Naruto became a ninja.

The group was comprised of what was left of the Konoha twelve, except for Sasuke. Also present were the jounin professors, ninjas who have known and worked with Naruto, and other friends and admirers. Also present, to the great surprise of all, was Hyuuga Hiashi.

Almost everyone's attention was on the Hyuuga heir. Ever since she found out about the death of her lover, Hinata imprisoned herself in her room and there stayed for the entire three days. The young lady has changed dramatically during this time.

It was obvious that she was getting thinner. She was paler than she usually was. Her eyes were still red from crying. Inside Hinata was in far worse condition. Her source of strength was taken from her. Her light and happiness was no more. Her reason to live was gone.

Tsunade presided over the ceremony. Some of the people who attended said some words about Naruto and how he has affected their lives. After very long speech by Lee, who spoke of the flames of youth and how his friends death was a great tragedy, the Hokage stood in front once again.

"There is still one more who wishes to speak. I would like to ask everyone her to please not do anything rash."

The people were confused about what Tsunade said, until they heard the rest of what she had to say.

"You may come forward, Uchiha Sasuke."

Everyone turned to the back. There, surrounded by an entire ANBU squad was the traitor. All of the eyes looking at him were full of anger. All except Sakura, whose eyes were full of uncertainty, Hiashi, who was looking at his eldest, and Hinata, who was shaking in anger with her head bent down.

He walked up to the Hokage.

"It would be better if you would hurry up. I can't ensure you're safety here."

"No problem, master Hokage."

The young man walked to the coffin.

"How are you, dobe?"

Everyone gasped at what they heard. Hiashi laid a hand on Hinata's shoulder to calm the girl down, and just in case she did something.

"I'll make this short. We both know everyone here wants me dead. I don't have any right to be here, after what I've done to you. I just want to tell you something.

I owe you a lot. You've been a good comrade and friend to me. You don't know this, but you were the one who pushed me to stronger even before I got the cursed seal. You were my inspiration. Not only that. You saved me from the darkness. You promised to save me even if you died trying, and you did. Thank you very much.

I know this is too late, but…"

Sasuke placed a round object on top of Naruto's open coffin…

…the crest of the Uchiha clan.

"From now on you are now part of my clan. May you be happy wherever you are…

…Uchiha Naruto, my brother."

Everyone was surprised by what he said, but they were taken back more when somebody shouted.

"YOU BASTARD!"

In a flash Hinata disappeared from her father's side and reappeared behind Sasuke. Even before the young man could turn around he found himself flying towards a tree. He hit so hard that it almost snapped in two.

Everyone looked at the Hyuuga heir. This was the first time they've seen the usually quite girl shaking in rage. Everyone could feel the killing intent from the young woman. Even her father wasn't able to move from where he stood.

"How could you call Naruto brother when you were the cause of his death.

You're a worthless person, Uchiha. So many people admire you, but you cast them aside. There's a woman who loves you with all her heart and soul and has never left your side, yet you pushed her away. You had a friend and comrade who would do anything for you, but you betrayed him."

HInata's tears began to flow.

"Naruto promised me. He promised that when he got back he would marry me. We would live out our days happy and together. But you, you stole my happiness. Because of you my beloved is dead."

Sasuke didn't move from where he was.

"What are you waiting for? Kill me. Avenge the death of your beloved and my brother."

This only fueled the young woman's rage even more. She began to expel white chakra. It surrounded her like Kyuubi's charka surrounded Naruto when he used it. You didn't need a Byakugan to know that, with the amount of charka she was using and the intensity of her killing intent, Hinata had no problem turning Sasuke's innards into soup.

"DIE, UCHIHA!"

Hinata went straight for Sasuke. Only Sakura tried to stop her, but she already knew she was too late.

"SABAKU KYU!"

In an blink of an eye Hinata was covered in sand and was now floating in the air. Everyone turned to the back and saw Gaara, Kazekage of the village of Suna. Flanking him were Kankurou and Temari. They were accompanying their brother to the funeral of one of his closest friends.

"Lady Hyuuga, please calm down."

Hinata didn't stop struggling.

"Sabaku no Gaara, let me go."

"Lady Hyuuga, you won't bring back your lover this way."

"I don't care. I'll kill him."

"Hyuuga Hinata, do you really want Naruto's death to be in vain?"

Perhaps it was the way the Kazekage spoke, or perhaps it was because she heard the name of her dead beloved, but what ever the reason, Hinata stopped struggling. She couldn't do anything else but to cry.

Gaara immediately released the young woman. Her family quickly went to her side.

"Master Hyuuga, it would be wise to take your daughter home. This is not the place for her to be in right now."

"Thank you, Kazekage." Hiashi said.

With that, the Hyuuga left the area.

Gaara walked up to Sasuke.

"Are you still alive?"

"Yes." was the young man's only answer.

"**Good."**

Sasuke had no time to be surprised. A hand made of sand wrapped around him and slammed him into another tree.

"Gaara, what are you…"

Temari was cut short when she noticed something about the sand. It had black markings all around it. She recognized the arm of sand.

"Shukaku?"

Gaara's head turned to Temari.

"**Don't worry. You brother is still here. I only want to give this boy some advice."**

He looked back at Sasuke.

"**Boy, it would be better for you not to show yourself to these people ever again. To tell you the truth, my container and I both want rip you limb from limb. But we will hold back. For the sake of the boy you put in that coffin."**

The sand released Sasuke and Gaara went back to his former self. He turned away from the young man and went to Naruto's coffin. He looked inside it for a few moments and cried.

* * *

That night… 

Sasuke was sitting on his bed. The council of Konoha decided to put him under house arrest while he waited to be tried for his crimes. Two ANBU squads were watching over the Uchiha estate at all times.

The young man looked at the object in his hands. It was a forehead protector full of scratches and cracks. It was Naruto's forehead protector.

He thought of what had happened that day. He knew what he did was suicide. Perhaps, that was what he wanted; to die at the hands of those who were true friends to his brother.

"I'm worse than Itachi. He let me live, while I killed Naruto. There's no denying it anymore. I killed Naruto."

Sakura hugged Sasuke. Because of what had happened, she began to think of all the wrongs she had to her fallen comrade and friend. The times when she brushed aside his attempts to ask her out on a date. The many instances when she would strike at him whenever he would pester her or Sasuke. The wish that Naruto vowed to fulfill even if he died doing it…

…which he did.

"No. You didn't kill him.

We did."


	3. What is best for the clan

**Authors note: First of all, thanks to the people who have read my story.**

**Here are some background info on my story: Chapter 1 was set close to the end of the 3 year period before Orochimaru could transfer his soul. All of the Konoha 12, save the team formerly known as seven, are now chuunin. Gaara is the Kazekage, but no attempt was made to kidnap him._(I needed Naruto to stay with Hinata during the last 6 months) _Tsunade is still Hokage and Jiraiya is still a pervert. **

**DISCLAIMER: The following is a story of fiction created using elements not belonging to the author. These aforementioned elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities with people's names, places, events, and/or stories by other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.

* * *

**

Hyuuga Hiashi sat at the head of large table. He was presiding over the Hyuuga council of elders meeting. These 'meetings' were suppose to be were the head of the family along with his advisers would discuss over clan business and matters. As head of the clan, Hiashi had an obligation to be in these meetings.

Over the years, however, Hiashi has began to dislike, even loath these conferences. What once was an honorable and dignified assembly had now become nothing more than a group of withered old men who spent most of the time bragging about the clan and degrading the other families in the village. Of all the times he had been here Hiashi could only count on his fingers the times the council had actually discussed what was best for the clan.

'_What is best for the clan…'_

These six words were also things Hiashi loathed. For so long he had done things that were supposedly 'in the clan's best interests', things that this very council had 'recommended' him to do. In the end it did little good for the clan, and cost him a great deal of pain.

'_I've had enough of this.'_

Hiashi cleared his throat to get the attention of the assembly.

"Council members, forgive me but I must take my leave of this assembly. There are some important matters I must attend to."

He was about to walk away when a voice protested.

"Hiashi, you are amongst the council of elders. Is it not here where we discuss matters of importance to the clan? What other things must you attend to?" The council leader, who also happened to be Hiashi's father, said.

"Father, you of all people must know of my duties besides being the head of the Hyuuga clan. I have a daughter to look after."

"But isn't miss Hanabi in the academy today?" another council member asked.

"Hanabi is not my only daughter."

At this statement, murmurs went flying through the room.

"Why must you trouble yourself with _her_, master Hiashi?" a third council member spoke.

"Yes. She is nothing but a weakling. That girl is not worthy of the Byakugan nor the name Hyuuga, much less the title of heiress."

"Her abilities as a warrior are inferior to the standards of our family. Her own younger sister could best her. Worse, she had been socializing with the demon child, and has even become its lover."

"She is nothing but a shame to this family. It would be better if she were to be disposed off…"

Before the councilman finished his sentenced, several kunai went past his head. The assembly looked to the origin of the projectiles and saw Hiashi with his arms held out.

"Hiashi, what is the meaning of this? How dare you strike at you own kin?"

"I should ask you the same thing, father."

"What are you talking about?"

"This council dared to suggest the assassination of my own daughter in front of me and yet you still have the audacity ask me what the meaning of this is?"

"Watch your tongue! You are speaking to the leader of the council of elders and your father."

"And you are talking to the leader of the clan and the father of the girl you are trying to kill.

For too long I have been listening to this council's courses of action, and it has brought no good to the clan. The only thing that your decisions have attained was the death of two of my family. I will not let history repeat itself anymore. I will not let you take my daughter away from me.

If anyone of you so much as causes a hair on Hinata's head to stray, I will personally end your lives."

Hiashi begun to walk towards the door.

"And one other thing. From this moment on, the Hyuuga council of elders is dissolved."

* * *

Tsunade looked at the stacked of papers on her desk. She had though she had made some headway in finishing her paperwork, but now she knew how wrong she was. They seem to just go on forever in a self restacking stack. She really needed a shot or two right now.

The door in her office opened…

"Master Hokage…"

The owner of the voice was cut off when a table lamp went passed his head.

"Damn it, kid! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

It took the slug sannin a few minutes before recognizing the voice. She looked up and instead of a blonde, orange clad boy, there was a young man with his hair in a ponytail and a bored look on his face.

"So…you don't want to be called Hokage?" Shikamaru said in an irritated tone and holding the lamp he had caught before it hit him.

"Oh, its you, Shikamaru." Tsunade said as she sat back down. "Sorry about the lamp. I was expecting…"

The Hokage trailed off for a moment. She had been expecting Naruto to come through those doors and, in his same loud and boisterous self, demanding a high level mission or brag about the one he had just accomplished. It had been a week since he was buried, but she was still expecting him to pop up at any moment, as if nothing had happened to him.

"You shouldn't be expecting him to drop by. It's too troublesome." The young man said as he put down the lamp on the table.

The Hokage sighed and wiped a stray tear from her eye. She knew the chuunin was right, but it was really hard to do it.

"Forget about it. Anyway, why are you here, Nara? Aren't you supposed to be on a day off?"

"Yeah well, I wanted to drop off something."

"What?"

"This."

The shadow manipulator then took off his flack jacket and put it on the Hokage's desk.

"Shikamaru, this is your chuunin vest."

"Yeah, and I'm returning it."

"What? Why?"

The lazy ninja sighed.

"Do I have to spell it out? I'm quitting."

"Quitting?" the Hokage said in disbelief. "Why are you quitting?"

"I just don't want to be a ninja anymore. It's far too troublesome. Maybe I'll just raise the family deer herd. At least then I'll still be able to watch the clouds."

The Hokage was speechless for a moment.

"But, we need you. You're our best strategist. We need your skills now more than ever. And we can't afford to lose another ninja. What do you need to stay? I can give you a bigger salary if you want."

Shikamaru lowered his head.

"Sorry, master Hokage, but my mind is made up now."

* * *

It was a quiet day at the Hidden Village of Konaha. Even more, in the cemetery of the Hidden village of Konoha. In this hallowed place lay a great number of the village's former populace, most of which were ninja.

In the 'Hyuuga section' of the cemetery, Hiashi stood in front of two graves. To his left was the grave of his brother, Hyuuga Hizashi. To his right was that of his wife, Hyuuga Yuki.

The story of his brother's death was well known. Everyone in the clan knew of it, even some people outside the family. Hizashi died in place of his brother when Hiashi killed a Cloud emissary to prevent the kidnap of Hinata. Even though the clan head disagreed with the decision of the council, the group of elders still had their way and substituted Hizashi's head for Hiashi's. This resulted in the lost of his brother, an enlargement in the rift between the main family and the branch family, and the enmity held by his nephew for the former.

Not as well known was how Hiashi lost his wife, Yuki. Official reports said she died due to her body becoming severely weak after childbirth. Hiashi knew otherwise. It wasn't her body that was weakened, but it was her will to live.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he would still see Yuki's smiling face. Her pale white skin, her lavender eyes, her night blue hair. He knew Hinata inherited much from her mother, both physical and emotional aspects. Just like her daughter, Yuki was such a shy girl in her youth. And just like her daughter, she was looked down upon by the other clan members because of her passive nature.

She was perhaps even worse than Hinata. At least his daughter had the courage to talk to Naruto. Yuki, on the other hand, couldn't even look at him. Even so, Hiashi loved Yuki greatly. She was his best friend and confidant in their youth. She had healed many a wound of his, both physical and emotional. She had soothed his tormented mind and broken soul when Hizashi died.

Hiashi wanted nothing more but to grow old with her. Alas, it was not to be so. Hyuuga Yuki was to die before her husband. She was to die a broken, bitter woman.

And it was once again caused by the intervention of the council of elders.

At that time Hiashi was on a trip. The council, tired of how appalling Hinata's progress was, confronted Yuki. They blamed her for how weak the heiress was, seeing that she herself inherited a weaker version of the Byakugan. Yuki courageously defended herself the best she could, saying that they had no right to insult either the heir of the Hyuuga clan or the wife of the clan head.

To this the council responded than she was not the wife of the clan head, but merely the vessel from which a stronger generation would come. Her only purpose was to produce children who were suitable to be members of the Hyuuga. They also told her that Hiashi would surely take a new wife to replace her if should couldn't bear a suitable child.

When Hiashi returned, he paid no mind to his wife's friskiness that night. After all, they had done it whenever he would return from a mission. Nine months after that, Hanabi was born, and it was then that he noticed something was wrong with Yuki. She had begun turn paler and thinner. A few days later, she suddenly collapsed. Hiashi called on the best doctors in the village, but not one of them could tell what was wrong. It was as if her body was just giving up.

Hiashi never left Yuki's side. It pained him greatly to see his beloved wife be that way. He waited for her to awake from her slumber. She did soon after, but it would not be a joyous moment.

* * *

**_Flashback: 12 years ago_**

"Hiashi…"

The Hyuuga head quickly went to his wife's side and took her hand in his.

"I'm here, Yuki."

She looked at him with clouded eyes. Her face held an empty expression and had but a mere shadow of her beauty.

"Hiashi, how is Hanabi? Is she healthy?"

"She is fine, Yuki. It's you I'm more worried about. What's wrong?"

Yuki did not answer his question.

"It is good to know that she is healthy. At least I was able to produce a suitable heir the second time around."

"Wha…what are you saying?"

Yuki tuned away and looked up to the ceiling.

"I am nothing but a slave to the head of the clan. Nothing more than a vessel to carry his children. My only role is to produce children to carry on the bloodline."

Hiashi was both confused and furious.

"That's a lie! You are my wife and I love you. Who told you this nonsense?"

Yuki shook her head slowly. Tears slowly fell from her eyes.

"I am only a slave. I was never your wife. I…never…had…your…love."

_**End Flashback

* * *

**_

Yuki died then and there.

Without his wife by his side, Hiashi began to slip into depression. Finding out the true circumstance of Yuki's death didn't help either. He thought himself week for not being able to protect his wife. From that moment on, he became obsessed with ensuring the clan was at their strongest. He pushed his daughters harder. He did this under the pretense of preventing them from meeting the same fate as their mother. He wanted them to be strong, both in body and in character. What he didn't know was that he was doing to his children the exact same thing the council did to his wife.

His constant ridiculing of her progress had caused Hinata to loss confidence in her self, almost to the point of questioning the purpose of her existence. She had come to see herself as nothing more than a disgrace. She was feeling the same emotional burden that was laid upon her mother.

Both father and daughter would have spiraled down this self-destructive path, had it not been for the intervention of another.

Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

_**Flashback: 3 weeks ago**_

Hiashi sat at his desk looking over some papers. It was another day like any other; a day of paperwork for the Hyuuga clan head.

Soft footfalls were heard outside his door. Activating his bloodline, he saw it was his eldest daughter, Hinata. She was wearing her usual clothes, a white jacket over her fishnet body suite. Curious as to where his daughter was going, he called to her.

"Hinata, I would like to speak to you."

A few moments and the young heiress entered her father's office.

"Y…yes, father."

"Where are you going, Hinata?"

"I…I was going t...to go out a…and train."

Hiashi raised a brow.

"Training? Why don't you use our own training grounds?"

"W…well, I…I already agreed to t…train with a f…friend, father."

Hiashi looked at his daughter. Both his ninja and parental instinct said she wasn't lying.

"Very well, Hinata, but I expect you to be home by dinner."

With a bow, she left.

Hiashi looked at where his daughter was standing but a few seconds ago. She had been doing this for almost two months now, going out to train with friends. At first he assumed that she was training with his teammates. But when he asked Hinata's comrades and teacher, they didn't know where she was. He also tried her other piers, but they too did not know.

The clan head would have been furious at his daughter for lying about her whereabouts, if not for Hiashi seeing visible improvement in her for the past few weeks. Her combat abilities were slowly becoming at par with her sister, Hanabi's. It was obvious that Hinata was now quicker and more agile, and had better stamina than before.

Curious as to who was training with his daughter, Hiashi stood up from his chair and prepared for a little espionage.

'_Besides, this paperwork is giving me a migraine.'_

And so here he was, on top of a nondescript building, shadowing his own daughter. He was keeping his distance, making sure she was just at the limit of his Byakugan range, which itself was quite substantial. As Hiashi watched his daughter weave through the throngs of people, he began to wonder what Hinata was doing in this part of the village. The shinobi training grounds were at the other side of town.

Hinata soon stopped in front of a small noodle shop.(AN: 3 guesses which ) The girl behind the counter gave her a warm smile as if she knew the Hyuuga heir well. The shinobi bowed in greeting and sat on a stool. She looked like she was waiting for someone. Soon enough, a blonde, orange clad young man came running to the shop.

"Hinata!"

Hiashi went wide eyed and slack jawed as he watched Uzumaki Naruto walk up to Hinata, sat down beside her and ordered ramen for the both of them. Soon they were merrily chatting and eating away. What would have been rage at his daughter went flying out the window. The Hyuuga head was now more occupied with his daughter and the fox boy's 'date'.

'_What are they doing together? Are they on a date? How long have they been going out? Have they gone intimate? WHY AM I FINDING THIS OUT ONLY NOW?'_

While Hiashi was playing twenty questions with himself, the two finished their meal and began to walk towards Training Ground 7. He silently followed them. They reached the training area but continued towards the surrounding forests. At this point, the father was having a bad feeling about the situation. His daughter with a young man in the middle of the forest with no one around; it just raises questions.

The two soon reached a clearing. The Kyuubi container then turned to the Hyuuga heir. Even thought they were out of hearing range, Hiashi was able to read the movements of their lips.

"Are you ready, Hinata?" Naruto asked with a solemn look.

"Uh…I…uh…yes." Hinata answered, slightly red cheeked

"Don't be nervous. I'll be gentle."

"A…alright, Naruto"

Hinata began to take off her jacket. Assuming that they were going to do what he thought they were going to do, Hiashi began to speed up, intent on preventing his daughter from being defiled.

He, however, ground to a halt when Hinata dropped her jacket. A cloud of dust erupted from where the piece of clothing hit the ground. When the dust settled, the jacket was in a small hole, Hinata was in a Jyuken fighting stance, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, what seemed like a thousand Naruto's came charging at Hinata. The young woman just stood her ground. When the first Naruto came close enough, she drew out her hand and lightly touched his chest. That one promptly exploded into a cloud of smoke. Two more came from behind, and were similarly dispatched.

This went on for a few more minutes. Hinata weaved through the ocean of Naruto's smiting anyone that came close. Hiashi was surprised at what he was seeing. How did Hinata become such a proficient practitioner of the Jyuken Ryu? This was the first time he had seen her daughter fight so well.

Another Kage Bunshin was soon dispatched. At this one of the Naruto's gave a signal and almost half the remaining shadow clones took to the air. Then all of them produced four kunai or shuriken in each hand, eight for each clone. They simultaneously through their weapons at the Hyuuga heir. Hinata didn't move from her spot.

Just as Hiashi was about to move in again, Hinata twisted her body to the left and began to spin the other way. Soon a spinning dome of charka encapsulated the girl, deflecting the projectile weapons thrown at her back and hitting several shadow clones. The whirlwind that was produced blew more clones back, causing them to hit trees and disappear.

Hinata stopped spinning just as the rest of the clones dropped to the ground. Now it was her turn to be on the offensive. She began to run through the sea of Naruto's, taking those that were in her way. She came to one particular Naruto and began her assault.

"Two strikes…Four strikes…Eight strikes…Sixteen strikes…Thirty two strikes…Sixty four palms of the hand!"

The targeted Naruto was sent flying several feet back, while the rest exploded into smoke. Hinata promptly fell to her knees, her exhaustion very apparent.

Hiashi looked on at his daughter.

'_Kaiten, and the Sixty Four Palms of the Hand. How did she learn these techniques? I have yet to teach her and Hanabi even the basics of those moves.'_

His attention went back to the two teens. They were quiet for a few minutes, until Naruto began to laugh. Hinata laughed as well, as she wobbly walked up to, and plopped down beside the blond boy.

"That was great, Hinata." Naruto said out loud.

"T…thank you, Naruto." Said Hinata shyly.

"You know, compared to Neji's, your sixty four palms are more painful."

Hinata blushed at the comment and snuggled close to him. Feeling the girl, Naruto slipped his arm underneath her and pulled her closer until she was lying on his chest.

"You look tired. Why don't you take a little nap."

"Hmmm." Came the reply. A few moments later, the girl had already fallen asleep.

Moving slowly as to not wake her up, the fox boy sat up and took off his jacket. He then folded it up and put it under the sleeping girl's head to serve as a pillow. He then stood up and walked a few steps away. When he reached the edge of the clearing, Naruto looked back at Hinata, then turned his gaze to the trees.

"You can come out now. I know you're hiding somewhere."

Hiashi was surprised when Naruto called out to him. He did not know how he knew he was close by. He was watching them with his Byakugan and he was sure his chakra signature was hidden very well. Either way, his cover has been blown. He might as well confront the fox boy. He had questions as to his daughter's improvement.

The Hyuuga head leapt from his branch and landed in front of the genin.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hyuuga Hiashi."

The two regarded each other with a heavy air of animosity between them.

"I see you've been training with my daughter." Hiashi said in a cold tone.

"Yup! It's really fun sparing with her." Naruto said with his trademark fox grin

"I thank you for the assistance you've given Hinata. She's improved substantially under your tutelage."

"Yeah well, people always improve if you give them some encouragement and not run them to the ground every moment of their lives."

Hiashi's eye brow went up.

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"You bet I am!" the boy shouted with his finger pointing at the man in front of him. After a moment Naruto's expression changed. "What's imply?"

Hiashi almost fell over at the sudden question. He decided to let is pass.

"Tell me, Uzumaki, how long have you been training with my daughter?"

The boy looked like he was under deep thought. "Well, we've been doing this for about six months now."

"Has she been practicing Hyuuga techniques for six months?"

"Nope. She started doing the Kaiten and the Sixty-four palms just last week."

'_Seven days? It took her almost a third of the time it took Neji to master those techniques. Incredible, but how…'_

"How could she have mastered those techniques?" Naruto said, as if reading the man's mind.

Hiashi kept silent. The boy continued

"You must be thinking, how could she have been such a powerful warrior, when she looks so weak and frail. That maybe true. Even I sometimes become afraid that Hinata is the overexerting herself. But Hinata is strong. There is a power within her that exceeds even the most powerful of your Hyuuga clansmen. In fact I think, no, I believe that if ever the nine tailed fox were ever to return, she would be the only one in this village who could stand against it."

Naruto looked back affectionately at the sleeping girl. Hiashi's face remained passive.

"I don't believe you."

Naruto looked back at the Hyuuga head.

"I don't believe that Hinata such power as you said. She has always been weak ever since I first trained her. Her sister Hanabi, who is four years younger than her, could best her hands down. I have yet to see any evidence of this power you speak of ."

Naruto only smirked and shook his head.

"Bearers of the all seeing eyes and you can't see the obvious."

Hiashi's brows furrowed as he looked at the boy.

"Do you want to see the reason why you can't see Hinata's true power?"

The genin threw him his forehead protector.

"Look at it. What do you see?"

The older man looked the at the object in his hands.

"I see the symbol of the Leaf."

"Look harder. Look at the metal, not the symbol."

Hiashi did so. The metal was riddled with scratches but was polished well. On it he saw a blurry image of…

"Myself."

"And that's your answer."

He looked back at the boy.

"You are the reason why you couldn't see her power. All you see are her flaws, her failures. You couldn't see her determination and spirit. You couldn't see how an excellent medic nin she's become. You couldn't see how she's been getting better even before I began to train with her. And if you can't see the obvious, how can you see the hidden."

Hiashi looked at the forehead protector a bit more and threw it back.

"I still do not believe you. Please tell my daughter she is still expected before supper."

At this Hiashi began to walk away.

"I know about Hinata's mother."

The man stopped.

"You know, I use to envy Hinata. She was rich. She had a big house. She had a prestigious name. But much more, I envied her because she had a family. Even with all the things she told me about the Hyuugas, with the seals and division and all, I thought it couldn't be that bad.

But as I got to know her better, I began to pity her. All her life she carried a great burden on her shoulders. The esteemed name she had also impressed on her expectations she couldn't meet all at once. Even though she was trying her hardest, those around her did nothing but ridicule her, just because she took longer to learn. Her achievements were belittled, or worse, disregarded.

All because a man couldn't put the past behind him and had to take out his anger and frustration on his daughter."

Naruto lifted his hand and pointed at Hiashi.

"The Hyuuga aren't a family. You people are just a bunch of arrogant, self-centered, prestige obsessed bastards who happened to have the same last name. Wild dogs treat their family members with more compassion."

The clan head stood unmoved for a moment. He slowly turned to Naruto.

"The methods of our clan seem barbaric to you. And because of this you want to change the Hyuuga.

I know for a fact that you never knew your parents, Uzumaki, so let me tell you something. Things aren't as simple as you think they are. A way of life that has lasted for decades could not be se easily changed. The way a family like ours works is more difficult and complicated than you think."

Naruto met Hiashi's gaze.

"How could it be difficult to believe in your child? How complicated could it be to love your daughter?"

At these words Hiashi had a flashback.

'_I…never…had…your…love.'_

It was then he began to wonder if Hinata felt he didn't love her. For so long he had laid on his daughter such hurtful words. He had treated her as if she was a nuisance. He had chosen to favor Hanabi, and instead ignore his eldest. He had ignored her achievements. He had all but disowned her.

It was then he realized he was doing to her the very same thing the council did to his wife.

'_All this time I had thought I was helping Hinata become a stronger person. But now I realize I was doing the exact opposite. I have been the very cause of my daughter's weakness. I have been a fool.'_

"You love my daughter, don't you?"

Naruto looked back at the sleeping Hinata.

"Yes."

Hiashi lowered his head and turned around.

"I pray she will always have you by her side."

At this he began to walk away.

"What about you?" Naruto called out "You're her father."

"I've lost the right to be Hinata's father the moment I stopped believing in her."

In a yellow flash, Naruto appeared in front of Hiashi.

"Let Hinata be the judge of that."

At that moment, Hinata began to stir and wake up. She kneeled up when she saw who was staring down at Naruto.

"F…Father?" a pale faced Hyuuga heir said.

Both men looked at the girl.

"Hinata, you're awake. How was your nap?" Naruto said with a grin on his face.

Hinata couldn't answer the question. She was too busy wondering why her father was here and too afraid of what he was thinking right now.

"Daughter, this young man has told me you have been training with him for some time now."

Hinata kept her head down.

"Y…yes, f…father."

"Even though the council and myself told you in the past not to socialize with him."

"Y…yes, father."

Hiashi was silent for a moment.

"Hinata, from now on you are to no longer seek out Uzumaki Naruto to train with him."

She knew it. Now she could no longer have any quality time with her beloved Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

Now her father was forbidding him from ever seeing her again.

"…from now on I am handing my Hinata's training to you, seeing she has improved considerably under your tutelage."

Hinata's snapped up and looked at her father.

"If you choose to train in this location again, you are to escort my daughter from the estate to here and from here back to the estate. Is that understood?"

"Sure!" Naruto said with a grin and the patented 'nice guy' pose.

"I will leave you now to your training then."

Hiashi had walked a few steps when he stopped again.

"One more thing. During training Neji is to accompany and watch over the two of you."

"WHAT?" Naruto cried out, "Not Neji, he's absolutely no fun at all!"

"My decision is final."

With that, Hiashi left a grumbling Naruto and a still bewildered Hinata.

_**End Flashback

* * *

**_

He had remembered during one of the Chuunin exams that Naruto had promised to change the Hyuuga. He could safely say that the young man did.

From that day on the relationship between father and daughter had improved. The Hyuuga princesses now trained side by side. Their duels had become close ties. Hinata had even began to study the removal techniques for the Caged Bird Seal. The hurtful words turned on her had disappeared. Now none doubted she would be a suitable, if not excellent heir.

That is, until tragedy that occurred a week ago.

Hiashi looked again at the two graves. These were the people he had lost because he had made himself to blind in his surroundings. He lost Yuki because he didn't see how those around her treated her. He lost Hizashi because he didn't see how much the division of the clan has destroyed his family.

"Hizashi, Yuki, I know I have been too blind to save you. I would not be so anymore. I have lost you two, but I will not loose Hinata. I will do what must be done…

…what is best for the clan."

* * *

**Next Chapter: A look at our broken princess.**


	4. Father and Daughter

**Author's notes: **

**Good day to everyone. Sorry for the late update. I was really busy with school and some other important stuff. Fortunately, school is finally over, I got decent grade_(thank God)_, and now I finally get to update my story. Think of this as a Christmas present for all of you.**

**Please be advised:**

**I've modified chapter 2 a bit. It has come to my attention that I skipped Hinata's team_(can't remember the number) _on that chapter, so I changed it a bit. It must have been caused by the half-asleep state I'm always in when I work on my stories. Anyway, thank to the one who gave me the head-up. You know who you are.**

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a work of fiction created using elements not belonging to the author. These aforementioned elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities with people, places, events, and/or stories by other authors, either living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

**

The Hyuuga estate was a wondrous place. Pristine white homes were contained within the high walls of the compound. Gardens could be found within each house and trees lined the roads within the complex. Each house was well made and beautifully crafted. At the center of the compound was the palatial home of the clan head and his family. The structure looked more like a castle than a mansion, with its many floors and gardens. Such residences were well suited for one of, if not the, most powerful clan in Konoha

The Hyuuga estate, however, like many other things, has dark secrets contained within. Inside the fairytale like setting lives a family divided. The main house, the family of the clan head, lived in power and luxury, while the branch family, the children of the main house who were unfortunate enough not to be the first born, along with their children, lived a cursed life of servitude. Because of this each side of the Hyuuga had become alienated from the other. The main house considered the branch family as servitors while the branch house held a great contempt for the main house.

This has been the way of the clan for generations.

Currently, the estate holds another less dark, but equally sad secret. Within one of the rooms in the main family house lay Hyuuga Hinata. She was, by right of birth, the heir to the Hyuuga. As such she was expected to be a strong warrior. Hinata however turned out to be a shy, passive girl, one who did not posses the warrior instincts so highly regarded by the clan. For most of her life she was treated as a disgrace, the family shame, something that should only be ignored.

For a shining, yet brief moment, Hinata had been a different girl. Even for a short time she had become what she had always wanted. She had ceased to become a failure to the eyes of her family. She had gained the recognition of all in her clan. Much more, she finally had the heart of Uzumaki Naruto, the boy she loved.

Her story, however, would not remain a happy one. Naruto died a few days prior, and everything went down hill for the girl. With the lost of her beloved, she lost her new found will and confidence. She could no longer see the reason for living and had become a recluse. This change brought back the hurtful, degrading words that were once directed at her, now far worse than before. Her life has once again become a living hell.

Here, in the confines of her room, Hinata lay with what remained of her happier days. Her coat and fishnet suite hung in her closet, slowly gathering dust. Her forehead protector rested on her desk, left there in neglect. Atop her nightstand were a few picture frames. One held a picture of her mother holding a young Hinata in her arms. Another had her team with their sensei, Kurenai. A third held her, Hanabi, and Hiashi. It was taken shortly after her training under Naruto became official. It was the first picture of the three together that actually held some semblance to a family.

There was another frame among the group. It held a picture which contained two people. One was a girl with a pair of lavender eyes and a cute, little smile. She stood beside a blonde boy sporting a wide grin. Between them, the girl was holding a fox plushy with nine tails.

This was a picture of Naruto and Hinata taken the morning before he left to retrieve Sasuke for a second time.

Hinata held the stuffed toy tighter as she looked upon the picture. Those were some of the last gifts given to her by her lover. How she still remembered their last moments together.

* * *

**Flashback: 2 week ago**

It was your average day at Konoha. The sun was shining brightly, people were going about doing their usual business. A white haired man was watching several bathing women form behind some bushes, the Hokage was having a hangover as she complained about the mountains of paperwork, and an ANBU was being admitted to the hospital for being the unfortunate guy to wake up the Godaime.

Yep, pretty regular day for the village of the Leaf.

In training field 7, two people were seen locked in a heated sparring match. A young man with blonde hair was on the defensive against a young woman with dark blue hair. She was attacking him with open palm strikes and invisible chakra blades. He was dodging and parrying her, trying not to get hit by any of her attacks.

"You're not taking me seriously." The girl complained.

"I am taking you seriously." the boy countered, "That's why I'm trying not to get hit."

"Well you could at least try to hit me."

"Later, when the time is right."

The girl intensified her efforts. The young man began to feel his opponent's attacks grazing him. He knew he needed to do something soon. The girl sent in another attack, hitting the boy square on the chest. The boy promptly exploded into a cloud of dust. The young woman fell into the defensive, scanning her surroundings for her opponent.

As the dust cleared, thousands of blonde young men came falling from above. The girl attempted to execute her absolute defense maneuver but as her targets got closer they too exploded into clouds of dust, enveloping her and making it more difficult too see.

Unbeknownst to the girl, the dust cloud was swelling near her back side. From this blind spot, the boy appeared with a kunai in hand. When finally the dust settled, the girl was looking at a kunai held up to her neck. The boy gave her a grin.

"Gotcha, Hinata."

The girl smirked at the boy.

"I don't think so, Naruto."

The boy gave her a questioning look. She told him to look behind him. He saw her hand glowing and a cut in his clothes from his shoulder running diagonally down his back. Naruto looked back at Hinata.

"Eheheh, uh, tie?"

The two were soon sitting together and cooling down under the shade of a large tree. Hinata was drinking some juice from her thermos while Naruto was having his favorite exercise food, pork ramen. In the past Neji, being the overprotective cousin that he is, would be sitting between the two teenagers. Today, however, he was at home, sick and under the responsibility of Tenten and her caring hands, at least, as caring as a weapon mistress' hands could be.

This left the two with more time enjoy each other's company, which lead to how they are now. They were both in a state of calm and quiet. This silence was soon broken when the girl spoke.

"Naruto." The Hyuuga heir asked as she stared at her drink.

"Yes, Hinata."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

HInata looked at him with caring eyes.

"Is there something wrong?"

Naruto gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I saw you weren't really giving it your all a while ago. It seemed you were distracted by something. Like something heavy was on your mind. Is there something the matter? Please tell me so I could help."

His face darkened for a second, then reverted back to a grin.

"Oh, its nothing Hinata. Nothing to worry about."

She gave him a smile and a nod. She felt he was hiding something, yet decided to be content with his answer. The two again remained silent for a few more moments.

"Hey Hinata." Naruto said, finally breaking the silence "There's a fair in town today. Want to go there later?"

"Are you sure, Naruto?" Hinata asked "Father is expecting us to be training."

"Nah, its ok. You're already very powerful as is. And if he doesn't believe you, we could give him an exhibition and show him how you kick my ass."

The two couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, I would like to got the fair. But first we need to change. I feel hot and sticky."

"Great! I'll bring you home, go home myself and change, and be back to pick you up in half an hour. Alright?"

"Ok."

After a dash home, a quick wash, a change of clothes, and a pickup, Naruto and Hinata were walking together through the crowds in one of Konoha's famous fairs. Left and right there were booths of food, games and whatnots. People of all ages were going up and down the streets, looking at the stands for anything that struck their fancy.

"There are a lot of people here today." Said Naruto.

"Yes there are." Hinata replied.

The couple walked pass a target range booth. There were several stuffed toys lined on the top shelf. Below them were several balls each suspended above a container with numbers on them. The aim was clearly to get the most number of points by making the balls fall to the container.

"Hey, Hinata, watch me win you a prize for you."

Naruto walked up to the stand, put a few coins on the counter and began to play the game. He was able to score the top prize at the first try, much the both shinobi's delight.

"And the young man wins a prize." The shop keeper declared, "Well, what do you want, kid?"

The blond looked at the selection for a moment then turned to his blue haired companion.

"Well, Hinata? Which one do you want?"

The girl looked at the toys for a moment and quickly picked one.

"And a fox it is for the lovely lady."

"Why the fox, Hinata?" Naruto asked as they began to walk away.

"Well, I thought it was actually cute. Also, it reminds me of you."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at this. They way his companion was snuggling the little plushy like a young, carefree girl tugged on his heart.

"Hey, maybe you should call 'em Kyuubi? He does have nine tails."

"**No she cannot!"** the angry voice of a nine tailed fox demon rang in his head **"The name Kyuubi is to be feared, not given to an insignificant object."**

"That's a good idea. A cute name for a cute fox." Said Hinata as she snuggled her 'Kyuubi-chan'.

'_Take that, stupid fox!'_

The blonde looked on at Hinata again. Again there was a tug on his heart at this sight, but along with it, a pang of pain. In his heart there was guilt. Guilt, not for something he has done, but for something he will not be able to do.

Hinata noticed the sad aura around her friend.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Huh, nothing's wrong, Hinata? What made you think there was?"

"You looked like something was bothering you." Hinata said with a uneasy town. "I don't like it when you look like that. Please tell me what is wrong."

Naruto smiled. "Think nothing of it, Hinata. It must be just the hunger. C'mon, lets get some ramen."

His words still did not convince Hinata. She, however, decided to wait for him to be ready to tell her what troubles him. For now, they would enjoy the day, and each other's company. And so, hand in hand, they walked towards the Icharaku.

**End Flashback.

* * *

**

A tear fell from Hinata's eye as her recollection ended. It had been a happy day, one of many more she though they would have together. Even when Naruto was called off to the Hokage's office, she was in high spirits through out the day. In her mind she thought there was nothing that could go wrong.

She should've known better. She should have realized something was wrong the moment she saw the sadness in his eyes. His mind had been on other things. Things that weighed heavily upon him. She saw these things yet she did nothing. She should've pressed him for answers. She should've forced him to talk to her.

She should've stopped him that night.

* * *

**Flashback: 2 week ago.**

Hinata was getting ready for bed. It had been a tiring day. But she was happy. She and her beloved Naruto had a great day at the fair. They had gone on every single ride, played on every single game, and did every single thing they could do that day. It had been a joyous occasion.

As she got to her bed, she picked up the fox stuff toy that rested on it. Naruto had won her a lot of prizes that day, but this one was her favaorite. It was the first one he won for her, and it reminded Hinata so much of the fox boy she loved.

She had just laid her head on the pillow when she heard someone tapping at her window. Activating her bloodline, she took a look at who was outside her room.

'_Naruto?'_

She quickly got up and opened the window. She was greeted by a smiling Naruto. He was wearing his regular orange and black jump suite. He may have been sporting a grin, but his eyes betrayed the sadness that Hinata had been detecting the whole day.

"Hey, Hinata. Can I come in for a sec?"

She nodded and stepped aside to let him in. The young man took a moment to take in how his friend looked in her night clothes.

"Hey Hinata, that night gown looks really cute on you."

Hinata blushed at this comment, but she couldn't take away the image of his sad eyes.

"Naruto, why are you here? Not that I don't like you visiting me, but I don't think this is a social visit."

Naruto rubbed the back oh his head. "Yeah, you're right."

He sat down on Hinata's bed. She sat down beside him.

"Hinata, you're the only one I'm going to talk to about this. Please don't tell anyone."

"Why? What is it?"

Naruto's face darkened. He turned his eyes away from Hinata.

"I'm gonna leave Konoha for a while."

"What? Why? Are you going out to train again?"

"No."

"Then why?"

He didn't turn back to her.

"Sasuke."

Hinata gasped at this. Naruto stood up and walked over to the window.

"He's been contacting me for some time now. Sending me letters, challenging me to a showdown. At first I didn't pay much attention, thinking it was somebody trying mess with my head or something. That was, until today. He sent a message to Old Lady Tsunade demanding she send me to fight him. Me and only me."

As he told the story, Hinata felt her heart sink. She had known of what had happened between her beloved and the traitorous Uchiha. She had been there when they bandaged his entire body the day he returned from the failed mission. She had stayed by his side as he recuperated, looking at the still, unconscious body of the boy she loved. It was like a dagger being twisted in her heart. Now she was feeling the same pain again. This time, however, Naruto was holding the handle.

"How did you know it was really him?" she asked.

"The message came with a list some things I know only Sasuke knows. Some things about me only he knew. That's when I finally realized it was Sasuke sending me those challenges."

Hinata was trembling. "And what did Master Hokage say."

"She said I shouldn't go, at least not without a proper team to back me up. But I will go anyway. I will go alone and I will go tonight."

"You shouldn't!"

Naruto turned and saw Hinata standing with clenched fists. Her eyes were shut and her body was shaking. Tears were threatening to overflow down her porcelain face.

"You shouldn't go. Have you forgotten what happened the last time? You had a hole in your chest, a bloody hole on top of your heart. You almost died. Why would you want to go after that bastard? Why would you want to get yourself hurt again? Why would you want to leave us? Why would you want to leave me?"

Her emotions finally overwhelmed Hinata, and she fell to he knees crying. As Naruto looked at the sobbing girl, his heart began to ache. He knelt down in front of her and took her in his arms. Truth be told, he also didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave her and his friends behind. If he could, he would gladly ignore the bastard's challenge.

But he knew he could not.

"I don't want to leave you. Leaving you and the others is the last thing I ever want to do. But this is something I must do." He said as he tried to make the sobbing stop.

"Why? Is it because you promised Sakura?"

Naruto knew this was part of the reason. But there was something more that urged him to seek out Sasuke. Looking up, he saw a picture of Hinata with her sister and her father. Taking it from the night stand, he showed to the girl in his arms.

"Look at this picture, Hinata, and tell me what you see."

"It's me, Hanabi and father." The girl replied.

"You see your family in this picture, don't you. These people love and acknowledge you for who you are. They will never abandon you, come what may.

I've never had a family, even a broken one. I was alone since the day I was born. I was never cared for and always cast aside. None loved me and all hated me. That was why I wanted to become Hokage, to prove to everyone that I existed, to show everyone I was worthy of being loved.

For a while I was like that. One day some people came into my life. They acknowledged me for who I am. They didn't see me as something to be hated. They treated me as a person. They welcomed me into their lives. They loved me for being Uzumaki Naruto. These people saved me from the darkness inside of me.

One of those people was Sasuke. We were rivals, and both of us recognized this. We respected each other's power and skill and tried to surpass it. Even if he called me dobe and I called him bastard, even if we insulted each other every moment we met, it was alright for me knowing he acknowledged me enough to treat me that way. In fact, now that I look back at it, I was happy we had such bouts.

We were like…no…we are brothers. He is the brother I never had. The only brother I ever knew and will probably ever know. That is why I must bring him back. He isn't just a comrade, or a friend. He's my family."

Naruto looked at the girl in his arms.

"Now do you understand, Hinata, why I must bring Sasuke back? You're family is once again whole. Now I must make my family whole."

Hinata was silent. She understood fully what Naruto was talking about. Her family was broken before. There was never any love in their beautiful residence. Their house was just that, a house and for a long time, that house was not a home.

In general, the entire Hyuuga clan was still broken. But change has began in the main house and it would surely spread to the rest of the clan. Given enough time, the Hyuuga will become a family again.

The girl looked up to Naruto.

"I understand how you feel, but please take me with you. You might need my help."

"I know you want to help me, but, no, you can't come with me. Worse case scenario is I get branded a missing nin. I don't want that to happen to you too."

Hinata's eyes went downcast.

"Hey, don't look so sad." He said as he lifted her face to his, wiping away her tears and giving her his trademark grin, "I promise to return as soon as possible. I'll be back before you know it."

Hinata managed to smile a bit. "Very well. I'll be praying for your safe return."

With this, Naruto stood up and got ready to leave. Hinata stood up as well, wanting to give him a strong image of her before he left. He was about to step on the window sill when he stopped. He turned his head back to the girl.

"Hey, Hinata."

"Yes, Naruto?"

Before the Hyuuga heir could react, she was a swept into the arms of the Kyuubi container. She soon found his lips pressed against hers. Her lavender eyes went wide as his blue ones closed. Many times in her wildest fantasies did she dream of this. Now it was coming true. Hyuuga Hinata was being kissed by Uzumaki Naruto.

As quickly as it began, their moment of bliss ended. Their lips parted, but her body was not yet released from Naruto's arms. Putting his mouth to her ears, he whispered to her…

"When I get back, I will marry you. That is a promise of an eternity. Good bye, Hinata. I love you."

…and disappeared into the night.

As the realization of what transpired took root, Hinata's body began to shake and sob. Her hands flew to her mouth and tears began to fall from her eyes as his confession and proposal finally registered in her mind. Overwhelmed by the shock and the joy, she fell to her bed and cried.

**End Flashback.

* * *

**

That would be the last time Hinata would see Naruto alive. The next they met, he was a corpse.

She did not want to remember these things. She did not want to remember how she had lost that which she had loved the most. She did not want the feeling of emptiness and pain inside. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than for the anguish to end. She wanted the heartaches to cease. She wanted the memories to stop coming.

She wanted it all to stop so much, that she was cursing the cause of her pain. She was despising the source of her misery. She was wishing Naruto had never lived, just so she could be spared the pain.

'_You said you loved me. You said you always kept your promises. That was your ninja way. You said those things but you didn't keep your word. Why did you break your promise to me? Why did you leave me?'_

Hinata's eyes drifted form her nightstand to her desk. On it was her kunai holster. Slowly she got up and walked towards the table. Picking up the holster, she took out one of the throwing knives. Her fingers glided along its edges. As it did, a red line appeared on one of the digits. The weapon was still sharp.

Two voices were now warring inside Hinata's head. One told her to put down the kunai and walk away. Another told her to take the blade and do what was needed to end her pain. Her will to live fought desperately, but it was already weak to begin with.

The girl slowly put the tip of the blade to the middle of her chest. Its cold point touched her pale skin. She slowly closed her eyes. She drew back the blade and plunged it in her chest.

Instead of pain, she only felt her hands hit.

Opening her eyes, she saw Hiashi standing in front of her. The kunai she was holding moments ago was held high above his head.

"What do you think you're doing, Hinata?"

Hinata's eyes went wide. Crying out, she jumped after her kunai. Her father raised the knife out of her reach, yet she continued, like a child desperately try to take back something important that was taken from her.

"Give it back! Please, give it back!" she screamed.

"Hinata, get a hold of yourself" Hiashi said, "You're going to get yourself hurt."

"I don't care. Give it back to me. I want it all to end. I want it all to end!"

The father gently pushed his daughter to the floor, so as to not hurt her. She just sat there with her head bowed, tears falling from her face.

"I will not let you do this. I will not let you take your own life." Hiashi said with a firm voice

"Why do you care?" Hinata shouted at him "I'm only a nuisance in your eyes, nothing but the clan shame. You never gave a damn about me. I was never your daughter. YOU NEVER LOVED ME!"

The girl was caught off guard when her father's hand made contact with her face.

Anger was clearly seen on Hiashi's face. This, however, was not anger towards his daughter. It was anger towards himself. He had allowed his daughter to be consumed by hatred and sorrow. He had repeated history when he was trying to prevent it from happening again. He had destroyed his daughter just as the council had destroyed his wife.

Hinata knelt there at her father's feet, tears streaming down her face. Emotions swirled within her. Anger, fear, confusion. She felt so lost within that small space which occupied. She looked up to her father's face, expecting either anger or contempt written on it.

She did find anger, but it lasted only moments before it was replaced by passiveness.

"Hinata, get yourself cleaned and dressed then meet me at the front porch. " Hinata heard her father's voice. As she listen to it, she detected something out of the ordinary. There was no force in his words.

"Why should I?" she said as an act of defiance.

"Hinata, please." There it was a again, his voice was devoid of any forceful tone she had grown accustom to. Instead, it was almost pleading. "Grant this foolish old man this wish."

Hiashi spoke these words and left.

The girl was surprised by these words. Never has she seen her father act so humble in front of anyone, let alone her. There was something strange going on.

Hinata did what her father asked her. Soon she looked like how she was before this whole affair. The only difference were her hollow, lifeless, lavender eyes. She got to the front porch, where her father was waiting. Hiashi looked at her for a moment, nodded, then said…

"Come, Hinata. Walk with me."

Soon the two were seen walking the streets of Konaha. Hiashi walked in front with Hinata slightly trailing behind. This had been the first time Hinata was out of her room for a week now. She kept her head down, partly because the light was hurting her eyes.

Above them, dark clouds began to gather.

* * *

Father and daughter continued walking for almost an hour. Before Hinata knew it, they were in the forest. As the girl looked around at her surroundings, she couldn't help but feel that this place was…familiar.

Hiashi soon stopped in a clearing. His daughter did the same, and once again taking in the familiar looking surroundings. Realizing her father has not moved from his spot for some time, the girl asked what was going on.

She was answered by a Hakke Kuushou (Air Palm) to the chest.

Hinata tumbled a few feet before hitting a tree. She looked up just in time to see her father in the process of sending another Air Palm towards her. She jumped out of its way, but was caught by the aftershock as the attack shattered the tree she was leaning against moments ago. She scrambled to her feet and saw Hiashi in his Juuken fighting stance, Byakugan fully activated. It was then that Hinata finally realized what this was all about.

'_He wants to kill me.'_

As if to prove her point, her father charged at her with hands aglow with charka. Fear spread across the girls face as her once father now would be executioner quickly approached. She was hit on the right shoulder, effectively cutting off the chakra flow in her arm. Next was a strike at her thighs, making her fall to her knees. Finally, a close range burst to the chest, sending her rolling to a tree.

The girl tried to stand, but her limbs would not have it. She looked up and fear spread over her face as she saw Hiashi advancing again. Taking what small ounce of strength and courage, she forced her limbs to act and tried to defend herself. This however was futile. Her blocks were uncoordinated, her parries soft, her defense full of holes. She was hit several times on her body and arms, each and every one extremely painful.

Another chakra burst to the chest and Hinata was sent flying several meters. Shakily she tried to stand, this time not to defend but to flee. She could not hope to win against the head of the most powerful clan in Konoha. The girl tried to scramble away from the man she had once though her father. She had reached the edge of the clearing when the suddenly materialized in front of her. With a chakra reinforced kick he sent her to the other side of the clearing, where she slumped against a tree.

Hiashi looked at the girl. Cuts and bruises ran up and down her arm. She was shaking in terror from head to toe. Fear and panic was etched on her face, as tears fell from her cheeks. Around them, water slowly began to fall from the dark clouds that was looming overhead for some time. Lightning flashed and thunder roared around the two. The dark and chaotic condition of the weather reflected what was happening between the two.

Suddenly Hiashi spoke.

"Hinata, stand up."

He took one step towards her, and Hinata only cowered even more. Again Hiashi spoke.

"Hinata, stand up and face me."

Another step forward and the girl shrank even more into herself. One more time Hiashi spoke.

"Stand up. You are the heir of our clan. Your actions aren't becoming of a Hyuuga, let alone the heir."

This statement earned a different response. Whether it was out of absolute fear or resentment for her title, Hinata shouted.

"I can't! I can't fight you. I don't have the strength to go against you. I am weak, useless, inferior. You yourself have said I am an unworthy heir because of my weakness. I can't do it."

Out of breath, the girl fell to the ground.

Hiashi looked at the sobbing girl. His face was passive as he looked upon his broken daughter. Once again he spoke.

"So you are giving up."

The girl remained silent. The man lowered his head.

"Where is my daughter? Where is the child who reminded me so much of my Yuki? Where is the girl who promised never to give up, even though the odds were stacked so much against her?"

Pain washed across Hinata's face.

"That girl is gone. She died the moment Naruto did. Naruto was her strength, her light. Now that he is gone, now that his love is gone, she is no more. The one she love is dead, and with him your daughter died."

Hiashi looked again at Hinata.

"You say you love Naruto. Then prove it to him."

As the last word left Hiashi's lips, a large lightning bolt flash overhead, illuminating the area. It was then that Hinata saw that there was something behind his father.

Naruto's grave.

Now she understood why the place was so familiar. This was her beloved's last resting place.

"You say he was your strength, and I know for a fact that he has inspired you to work harder and improve yourself. Show him now that even though he is no longer with you, you will continue to follow his example. Show him that you still place those values and times he shared with you at high esteem. Show him how much you love him, and because of your love for him, you will not give up."

Hinata looked at her beloved's grave. At that moment she was once again at twelve. She lay on the cold arena floor at her cousin's feet. Both her spirit and body was broken. In her despair she was about to surrender, until his voice rang out in the arena.

"_Don't give up, Hinata"_

As if by magic her strength returned. His words restored her unlike any soldier pill could. Slowly she got up.

'_I won't give up…'_

Her legs were still weak, yet she still planted them firmly on the ground.

'…_I won't back down…'_

Raising her hands, she prepared them to fight.

'…_I won't surrender…'_

She closed her eyes for a moment. Blood vessels on her temples slowly begun to bulge. Chakra began to pump into her eyes. When she opened her eyes, her entire environment was presented to her. Forest, father, rain, everything. Hinata's Byakugan was fully online.

'…_because…'_

"I'm ready, father. I will not back down."_(insert dramatic lightning flash here)_

At these words, Hiashi felt something he had never felt for such a long time. A tear fell from his eye, its decent hidden by the rain, yet he was not sad. He was happy.

'_My daughter has returned.'_

The father once again took his fighting stance. In a blink of an eye he launched himself at his daughter. The girl moved her arms to the side as if she was going to parry the strike.

'She'll most likely do the Kaiten.' Hiashi thought to himself. 'If she does, I'll have to use that counter move I've been designing.'

As soon as he was in striking distance, he drew back his hand, charged it with chakra and sent it against the girl. She moved to execute her absolute defense…

…but it was not the Kaiten.

As soon his hand was within her area of divination, Hinata began to swing her arms while her hands produced minute chakra blades. Because of the paths her hands took, the blades surrounded her like a dome, preventing anything from getting through. Hiashi was promptly thrown away.

It had been quite a long time since the Hyuuga clan head was thrown away in a duel. Needless he was quite shocked. Another shocker came when he tried to stand up. Pushing himself with the hand he tried to attack with, he found it riddled wit small cuts and burns. The sleeve on that arm was reduced to scraps.

Hiashi looked at his daughter just as the dome dispersed. White charka surrounded her body, outlining here form. The charka then went back inside the girl's body, leaving only the combat ready form of Hyuuga Hinata. She stood there with great intensity and determination in her face. No more was she the timid girl, she was now a woman warrior, a kunoichi of the leaf, the heiress of the Hyuuga.

"Incredible! Hinata, what was that technique?"

"That, father, is called the Shugo Kakke Rokujuuyonshou (Guardian Eight Divination Signs Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand). It is a technique known only to me. My very own absolute defense."

'_Incredible'_ Hiashi thought to himself _'She adapted a purely offensive strike into a defensive maneuver without losing its attack capabilities.'_

Hiashi stood up once again, his eyes shining with pride as he looked upon his daughter.

"You have done well in modifying our clan techniques." The clan head then changed his stance "But how good are you in executing the originals."

At this words, Hinata assumed the same position. For a few moments they were like this, sizing each other.

In a flash, father and daughter launched their assault.

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!" (Eight Divination Signs Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand)

"Two strikes…

…Four strikes…

…Eight strikes…

…Sixteen strikes…

…Thirty-two strikes…

…Sixty-four strikes!"

There was a great burst of thunder when both attacks met.

* * *

The sun shone brightly that morning as two birds sang on a tree branch outside a bedroom window. A gentle breeze rocked the small branch, and caressed the face of the room's occupant. Lavender eyes slowly drifted open, blinked once, then shot wide open.

Hinata shot up and looked around in confusion. She was in her room, in her bed, in her bedclothes. Bandages covered her torso, forehead and arms. Memories of the duel flooded her mind. She didn't understand what was happening. She wasn't expecting to be in her bed after her father…

At that moment, the man in question entered the room.

"F…father?"

"Hinata, I see you're awake. You've already been asleep for almost a day now."

Hiashi slowly walked forward to his bewildered child.

"W…why am I here? Aren't suppose to be banished."

"No." he said calmly, "It was never my intension to do that to you."

"But, I lost. You defeated me and…"

"Who said you lost?"

Hiashi slightly parted his top to show the bandages around his chest. He then pulled back his sleeve, showing the heavily bandaged arm.

"It was an even match, Hinata. We fell together. I was only able to recover faster as I have experience being hit with such a technique many times in the past."

"But I thought you were trying to dispose of me."

"No."

And for the first time since her mother died, Hinata saw her father show sadness.

"I have been… a bad father to you, Hinata. I was bringing you down instead of lifting you up. When I should have been happy for you, I belittled you. Of the things I should have done as a father, I did none. It had not been my desire to do these things to you. All I wanted was to keep you from a fate that was like your mother's.

Every night my last glimpses of her haunts my dreams. I would see her weak, frail, broken. You were so much like your mother, in so many ways, that I knew I had to protect you from meeting the same end.

But instead I nearly destroyed you. I had been a foolish old man. How could I prevent such a fate, when I was brought up by the very things that caused such an end? All I knew were the strict warrior codes and the regimented protocols of our clan. I was so stupid to think that these same rules would help you.

I only realized my mistake when I met your Naruto. He encouraged you, believed in you and you became stronger. But much more, you were happy with him. He showed me the error of my ways and I tried to change them. I tried to follow his example, but later I found out I was already too late.

When he died you began to slip deep into depression that I felt like I was watching Yuki die all over again and I as before I was helpless to stop it. That was why I did what I did that night. Naruto encouraged you to go on, to push forward even it seemed impossible. I knew I had to remind you of how he inspired you, so that even if he's gone, you would still go on.

I knew your love for him would help you where I couldn't."

As he finished, Hiashi fell to his knees and kneeled before Hinata.

"What I did to you in the past is unbecoming of me both as a man and as a father. I do not deny that. And for that I ask your forgiveness. Forgive me, my daughter."

Inside Hinata was a whirlpool of emotions. There was disbelief at what her father had said, and at what he was doing now. There was also sadness, from the knowledge that she had almost betrayed her beloved by giving up on her life. Finally, there was guilt. There had been many times in the past that she had thought badly of her father. There had been several occasions that she inwardly cursed at him. She had even snapped at him just the other day.

Now that she had gotten to know what he felt, Hinata pitied her father. They were the same. They were both tormented by the lost of their beloved person. Both couldn't move on with their lives because of the loss. Both almost got their lives destroyed because of this.

"Father…"

Hiashi looked up just to see Hinata throw herself at him.. The girl gripped his clothes and sobbed on his chest. Wrapping his arms around the girl, he held and comforted her. At that moment both knew…

…they were once again father and daughter.

* * *

It was a sunny day. Birds were singing in the trees and a gentle breeze was blowing.

In a small clearing, a girl with lavender eyes and blue hair crowing past her shoulders was standing in front of a grave marker. Kneeling down, she place a bouquet of flowers on the grave. Placing her fingers to her lips, she placed a kiss on the name on the marker.

"I will go on, Naruto. I will continue to live my life. You may not be here with me anymore, but your love will always will be. And even though you're no longer here to encourage me, I will continue to strive. I will not give up."

Slowly she stood up.

"For that is my Nindo, my way of the ninja."

As these last word left her lips, a small wind blew around her, picking up leaves and carrying them heavenward. Hinata followed them with her eyes.

"Our way of the ninja."

* * *

**Coming Up Next:**

**_A repentant brother and a divided friend. Trouble ensues as emotions surface and feelings are revealed. The guilty will be punished, but are the blood stained hands truly accountable. The enemy draws near. The serpent has come to collect its prize._**


	5. Torn Assunder

**Author's notes: **

**Another three months, another chapter for my Naru-fic. There isn't any flashbacks here. This is were I show the what's going on with other two essential characters.**

**Also, as you would find out, I gave Sakura access to jutsus other than what Tsunade would have thought her. I did this since…well…a lot of people seem to dislike Sakura because of her weakness. This is my way of remedying it.**

**On a side note:**

**I just want to say that Sakura was created as a balance to Naruto and Sasuke characters. Both have great power but not much control**_(Naruto lacks physical control while Sasuke lacks emotional control)_, **Sakura balances this by being weaker but having perfect control. Both boys are geared to death and destruction, Sakura is a medic and a peacekeeper between them.**

**She's the fulcrum on which the two containers of power are balanced, without which both will fall and shatter.**

**And with that, I end my case study on Haruno Sakura. **

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a work of fiction created using elements not belonging to the author. These aforementioned elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities with people, places, events, and/or stories by other authors, either living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

* * *

He was walking through absolute darkness. He could see, hear or feel nothing. He was not even sure if there was ground underneath his feet. He just kept on going.

'_Where am I?'_

As he continued, the darkness around him began to move. It swirled around him and began to change. Some of them it turned into walls. Others molded into lamp posts. Soon he walked through what seemed to be a normal looking neighborhood.

'_Why? Why does all of this look so familiar?'_

His walking suddenly stopped when his foot caught something, making him trip. Looking back at what it was, a chill went up and down his spine. Lying before his eyes was a man covered by several kunai. Shock covered the corpse's face as blood still flowed from the stab wound on its temple.

He pulled his foot loose of the dead man's hand and quickly crawled away. He sat by a wall as he tried to calm himself. A movement caught his eye and made him look to his right. Sitting right beside him was the body of a dead woman. She was pinned to the wall by a kunai through the mouth. Another was lodge in her forehead up to the ring.

He quickly stood up and started running from the scene. Before he got far, however, another gruesome sight presented itself. A little girl, no older than ten, hung by a hair ribbon from a lamp post. Her stomach was slit, blood pooling on the ground beneath her.

Again he tried to run away. As he did, he saw more bodies. Men, women, children, young and old. They were strewn all over the road. Some were on roof tops. Others were pinned to the wall. He ran aimlessly trough the streets trying to escape the gruesome spectacle.

After what seemed an eternity he stopped. She was out of breath and his head was spinning. He placed his right hand against a nearby wall to prop his body up as he tried to calm down.

The moment his fingers touched the wall, he realized there was something wrong with it. He turned and looked at his hand. It was covered in a thick, scarlet liquid.

'_Blood!'_

His eyes fell on the wall. On it was a blood spattered symbol. He immediately recognized it.

'_No. It can't be.'_

Stepping back from the wall, he began to run again. This time he wasn't running aimlessly. He knew exactly where he was going. He was straight for the large house looming at the horizon.

He burst trough the front door and raced through the many corridors until he got a room. Slowly he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open. Inside were three people. A man and a woman were kneeling beside each other. Behind them was a second man wearing dark clothes and armor. The second man was holding a sword ready to strike.

"_NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!"_

The sword went down, slashing the couple's necks, killing them in an instant. He watched as the second man's victims fell, tears falling as the bodies did. The bodies hit the floor and he fell to his knees. His eyes lingered at the two dead then went to their killer. Anger and hatred flared in him. Deep inside, the desire to take life began to take over. He wanted to kill, to take revenge, and his prey was right in front of him.

With a feral cry he leapt at the killer, anger and hatred taking over his rational mind. The killer didn't budge. Once he was close enough to the killer, he threw out his right hand. The killer lurched forward as the avenger's hand pierced his torso. His armor clad body fell down with a loud clatter, the bloodied blade falling and coming to rest at the avenger's feet

As the murderer's body fell to the floor, the avenger stood with his body slightly crouched, trying to catch his breath. He had almost fully calmed down when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around and shock covered his face. Behind him were several men all cloaked in darkness, all looked exactly like the murderer. He was completely surrounded

The one closest to him ran forward and slammed his fist on the avenger's stomach. Another appeared to hit him on the face. The avenger staggered but was able to regain his bearings. He worked quickly to dispatch the first two that attacked and several others. Still, they kept on coming upon him. He was vastly outnumbered.

Again, rage and hatred began to fill the avenger. Taking the bloodied sword on the floor he rose to his feet and slashed the first to come within striking distance. The others drew swords as well and attacked the avenger simultaneously. The sound of metal cutting through air and flesh echoed through as the avenger carved through wave after wave of enemies. He was wounded all over, but he pained no heed to these. All rational thought was thrown to the wind. Everything else did not matter to him, what was important was his revenge.

Soon the carnage ended. All the enemies have been felled and the avenger, out of breath and covered in blood, stood victorious. Even with his revenge achieved, he felt hollow. He felt something was amiss in all this. As he pondered this his environment changed. The room returned into darkness. The avenger looked with horror stricken eyes as the bodies around him changed as well.

One changed into a blue eyed blond boy with a large whole in his chest where his heart should be. Another that he slashed at the neck turned into a pink haired girl with the same gash on her neck. Another became a silver haired man with the right side of his face and the entirety of his torso ripped off. There were others, among them a fat boy, a blonde girl, another boy with a ponytail, one wearing shades, a boy and a girl with lavender eyes, a girl with hair buns, a boy in green tights, and another with a dog.

His eyes then fell on the puddle of blood at his feet. His reflection was clearly seen on it. He sees his image, but to him it was different. To his sight it was malformed, hideous. He saw the face of a monster, even though he looks upon his own reflection.

As he stared at it, his image began to change. His hair shortened as his face changed shape. It continued to alter until it was no longer his reflection the avenger was looking at, but the face of the murderer.

"_You've done well." _The reflection said.

"_You've done all that I have expected you to do. You've let anger fill your heart. You've let rage flow through every vessel of you're being. You've sown hatred into every fiber of your soul. Now, gaze upon what fruit your hatred and fury had born for you…_

…_a friendship betrayed…_

…_a love shattered…_

…_a family lost…_

…_an existence of eternal loneliness._

_You've done well, Sasuke."_

At this last word, a hand shot out from the pool of blood and gripped the face of the boy peering into it. He struggled, trying to release himself from the grip, but it proved too strong.

"_Or should I say…"_

With a jerk, the hand went back to the pool, ripping of the face of the boy. His hand went limp while his head remained bent down.

"_ITACHI"_

Sure enough, instead of Sasuke the avenger, the one who now stood amongst the dead bodies was Itachi the murderer.

* * *

Sasuke shot up from where he lay. Sweat covered his body and his breathing was erratic. This had been the worst of the nightmares that had been tormenting him. It started the night of his return to Konoha and it has only gotten worse over time. Every night the same thing. The scene of his parent's murder, his attempt on revenge, and finally, his slaughter of all the people he had ever cared for.

He wiped the sweat from his brow with his hand. As he did so, he noticed something different. Taking his hand from his temple, he looked at his palm. His body went cold at what he saw.

'_Blood._'

His entire hand was cover in the scarlet liquid. It ran across his palm, dripping over his blanket.

'_N…Naruto's blood.'_

Out of shear horror and revulsion, he swung his hand back in a wide ark. As it did so, it hit something on his dresser that fell over with the sound of shattering glass. Sasuke looked over his bed and saw it that it was a picture frame. On it was the image of Team Seven, with their Jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi. The fall had caused the glass to crack. The cracks came from the sides and converged on the chest of his orange clad teammate.

The cracks eerily looked like a Chidori.

The last Uchiha picked the broken frame. As he stared at it, tears began to fall from his eyes. Drops fell upon Naruto's image, giving it the appearance that the boy was crying. Sadness and grief finally overcame the young man. Putting the picture to his chest, he let his emotions out and wept. For the first time since the massacre of his clan, Uchiha Sasuke wept.

'_I have become him.'_

* * *

It was a quiet day at the Hokage's office. There weren't many missions today, just a few D and C ranks. With fewer missions to hand out, Tsunade was finally able to finish up on some of her paperwork. After signing a document, the Godaime looked up to her clock.

'_Any second now.'_

There was a loud burst as a cloud of smoke appeared on the middle of the floor. Once it cleared, a woman was standing in the center of the room. She was wearing a black body suit, and armor. A sword hung behind her back and a white cat mask covered her face. Long, unbound, purple hair flowed with the wind behind her.

'_Right on time.' _the Hokage thought to herself.

"Anbu captain Yuugao, reporting in, master Hokage." The masked woman said sternly

"At ease, captain." Replied the blonde behind the table. "What do you have to report?"

Yuugao stepped up to the Hokage's table. She took off her mask and began her report.

"Everything normal, ma'am. No disturbances for the entire night."

"And the prisoner?"

"He has remained in the residence the entire night. No suspicious actions. But…"

"But what, Yuugao?"

The Anbu hesitated for a moment.

"Master Hokage, I think Uchiha Sasuke is experiencing trauma because of the events preceding his retrieval."

Tsunade's brow went up at this. "What makes you say that?"

Again, hesitation. "Permission, to speak freely, ma'am."

The Godaime nodded. The Anbu captain continued.

"His nightmares have been getting worse. I believe these nightmares are all about the same thing, but last night seemed to be the worst of them all. He's been calling out to his parents, and then to his brother, as if he's relieving the night of the massacre. When he woke, he seemed to hallucinate. One of my teammates heard him mutter 'blood' while looking at his hand, even though his hands were clean.

Then last night, I saw him crying over a broken picture frame containing the photo of team 7. Ma'am, it think he's breaking down because he killed Uzumaki Naruto, and now sees himself as the murderer of his friend just as he sees Uchiha Itachi as the murderer od his family. I also believe that he thinks he has become his brother."

The Hokage listened intently at this. Her face held a passive expression.

"Master Hokage, I believe it would be wise to move Uchiha Sasuke into a mental ward."

The older woman then smirked.

"Yuugao, I can't believe you're actually falling for it."

"Begging your pardon, master Hokage, but falling for what?" the Anbu captain said, confused.

Tsunade began to explain in a firm voice.

"Nightmares? Hallucinations? Sasuke is obviously acting out these things in an effort to escape. He'll make us believe he's loosing it and we'll move him into a mental facility. Once that happens, he'll escape."

"With all due respect, Master Hokage," Yuugao said, "I don't think he's bluffing. I've seen many ninjas crack up and…"

"Captain, may I remind you that that boy is Orochimaru's apprentice." The Hokage's voice was cold and sharp. "Though I am ashamed to say it, I know that man very well. He has no doubt thought Sasuke how to strike at his enemy psychologically. Snakes are masters of surprise and subterfuge, so we must be very careful about these things. Do you understand, Yuugao?"

The lesser ninja knew she was outmatched. "Y…Yes, master Hokage."

Tsunade leaned back on her chair.

"That will be all, captain. Return to your duties."

Yuugao promptly put her mask back on, bowed, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The Godaime sat still in her chair, letting her mind linger at the report that was given to her.

'_You killed my little brother and now you're breaking down?'_

Her hand slowly went up and fingered the necklace around her neck. Tears began fall down Tsunade's cheeks.

'_You bastard. You have no right to be traumatized.'_

* * *

It was a quiet day at the Nara household. Nara Shikaku was lying back on the couch enjoying what time he had before his wife came back from the market and start berating him for not doing the mountainous pile of dishes in the sink. He had just begun to drift of to sleep when the front door flew past his nose and crashed on to a cabinet full of china.

"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THAT LAZY BUM?"

'_Who? Me?'_

The lazy jounin was abruptly pulled off the couch and was shook so hard we felt his brain hitting the insides of his skull. He opened his eyes to find the angry face of the Yamanaka Ino and the worried, apologetic one of her father, Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Ino, Inoichi, how are you? What brings you to my humble abode?" Shikaku's greeting earned him another shaking from the girl.

"You could dispense with the pleasantries, uncle Shikaku. Where's Shikamaru?"

The Nara jounin looked at the girl. Her face was twisting in anger, yet her eyes showed something else. There was pain in them, the pain of betrayal, mixed with loss, confusion, and fear. He glanced at his old friend. By the look on the he could tell that the father didn't what was wrong with the daughter. Shikaku concluded that the matter was somehow connected to his son, who had just recently resigned from being a ninja.

'_Hah, how troublesome.'_

"He's at the yard." He said as he weakly pointed at the direction of the yard with his thumb.

Nara Shikamaru was watching the Nara clan deer. Actually, he was watching the clouds while the deer was grazing around him. It was warm and quiet, just the way he liked it. The perfect place and time to have a nap.

"NARA SHIKAMARU!"

The ear piercing shriek drove away the deer and the sleep from Shikamaru's eyes. He didn't need his 200 point I.Q. to know what was going to happen next. Moments later the angry, stomping banshee came into view. Ino walked to him, grabbed him by the collar and jerked him into the air.

"Shikamaru, what's this I heard that you resigned from being a ninja? Is that true?"

"Yeah, it is." He said in a bored tone "What about it?"

His answer only seemed to fuel Ino's fury.

"How could you do this? How could you turn your back on your comrades like this?"

The young man just shrugged. It was very evident he had absolutely no interest on the subject at hand. This was the last straw for the young woman. With as much strength she could muster, she slammed her fist into the young man's face. He flew a short distance before hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Why are you doing this? Do you have any idea how much you're needed? You're the best tactician Konoha has. Your strategies are always without flaw. You're an excellent leader. You're the only one the most of us can count on to get us back alive.

Don't you see? Your village needs you. Your friends need you." at this point, tears began to fall down Ino's face "I need you. Please Shikamaru, I'm begging you. Don't turn you're back on us. Please don't leave me alone."

From where he lay Shikamaru sat up and turned to Ino. Facing the girl he spoke in his usual bored tone.

"Go home, Ino. I have no time for your rants right now."

Shock appeared in Ino's face. She knew Shikamaru was a lazy bum. She knew he complained a lot about a lot of things. But she could never conceive him to turn his back on his friends on their time of need. At that moment she realized, the boy she had grew up with, the boy she shouted at the most, the boy she cared for the most, even more than Sasuke, was gone. The one in front of her was nothing more than a shadow of who he was.

"I don't know you anymore. The Shikamaru I knew would never do what you're doing now. You're just like Sasuke."

"Except you're obsessed with him."

At this comment, Shikamaru felt the sting of Ino's palm against his cheek. Tears fell from Ino's eyes as her faced conveyed pain and sadness

"I hate you, Nara Shikamaru, I hate you. And to think I've just realized that I've fallen in love with you."

As the last statement sank into Shikamaru's head, he realized he had made a grave mistake. He tried to apologize to the girl, but it was already too late. Ino was already gone.

* * *

Afternoon at the Hokage's office. Tsunade was once again buried in mountains of paperwork. She loved her village dearly, but the amount of papers she had to sign was too big, even for a ninja village. The size of the piles was getting ridiculous.

A knock on the door took her nose out of the paper she was reading. Calling out for the knocker to enter, the Godaime saw her young apprentice, Haruno Sakura, enter. In her arms were several scrolls.

"Hello, Sakura. How are your lessons coming?"

"They are going well, Master Tsunade." The pink haired girl said, "These mokuton jutsu scrolls your grandfather made are an exciting read. The techniques in them are amazing. Its hard to believe you never got to learn these jutsus."

Tsunade smiled at this "I guess I'm not made of the same stuff my grandfather was made of. He could always able those wood element techniques while the rest of the family couldn't. I guess there was some physiological quirk in him that allowed him to do it, just like how uncle Nidaime could do Suiton jutsus without a source.

Anyway, I'm glad you like them. I'm happy to know that there's a chance the techniques of the Shodai Hokage will be making a comeback in you generation. Tell me, how far have you gone through the scrolls?"

"I'm done with the basics already and I've started with the intermediate levels. I'm returning the basic scrolls and the really advance scrolls since their still too much for me."

Tsunade nodded and motioned for her to put the parchments on the wrack beside her table.

"I must be going now Master. I have to be somewhere."

The pink haired teen was half way to the door when her master called her.

"Sakura, please don't go yet. I have some things to ask you."

Turning around, she went back to her master's table.

"Sakura, I've been told by some ANBU that you've been seen going in and out of the Uchiha compound for several occasions. Is that true?"

A troubled look befell Sakura. She knew she would be found out eventually.

"Yes, it's true, master."

Tsunade's brow furrowed

"And may I ask why you were going there?"

"I…I wanted to see him."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. She could see the amount of paperwork this was going to cost her.

"Sakura, you do understand that you've been breaking in and out a criminal's prison. What were you thinking?"

Truth be told, Sakura too didn't know what she was doing. Sasuke was deemed an official S-class criminal, much to the chagrin of the villagers and much of the ninja population. Under the Hokage's orders he was placed under arrest and was to be tried for treason and the murder of a fellow ninja. A great number of the populace protested at this, saying he had only slain a great demon and not a fellow ninja, and that should be enough to pardon him from his treason crimes.

Tsunade would not have any of it. She declared that if they were so loyal to 'their' Uchiha, then she would be more that happy to place them under arrest so they could be with him.

The Hokage sighed again. "Sakura, I understand what you feel for him, but you of all people must realize what he is and what he has become. He betrayed and murdered Naruto. How could you even look at him the same way?"

"I know that, Master." Sakura said, "But still, I can't take being away from him. I can't get him out of my mind. Everything I've done, all my training, all my preparation, all of this I've done so I may finally be with him. I now that he's finally back, I want more than ever to be by his side. I just can't bear being separated from him anymore.

I love him, Master Tsunade. That's something I know will never change."

"Sakura, do you understand what you are saying? Do you have the faintest idea of the fantasy you are deluding yourself in? Do you really think after all this time he'll suddenly warm up to you like a kitten? He's probably using you and the feelings you have for him as a means of escape. Uchiha Sasuke desires nothing power and revenge, and he'll do everything and he will stop at nothing to get it. He had already deserted Konoha to gain Orochimaru's power, and if that wasn't enough, he killed Naruto in order to get the Mangekyou Sharingan. "

"He doesn't have it."

Tsunade stopped at this. "What do you mean he doesn't have it?"

"He doesn't have the Mangekyou Sharingan. He said so to me himself. It just hasn't activated yet."

"What makes you so sure about this?"

"I've read some scrolls on the Sharingan. Based from what I've read and from the times I used my diagnostic jutsus on him, there are no changes on his eyes that points out that his level three Sharingan can now advance to the Mangekyou."

The Hokage leaned back on her chair. This was unexpected news. She was under the impression that they had in their custody the second S class missing nin with the powerful doujutsu.

"I guess we should be thankful he doesn't have it. It would be a great liability to us if he did."

She looked back at her student.

"Sakura, you undermined my authority and disobeyed direct order by seeing Uchiha Sasuke, but I'm willing to only suspend you because of the information you just provided. However, if you ever come to a stone's throw's distance from the Uchiha compound limits again, I will strip you of your ninja rank and throw you in prison."

Sakura tried to protest "But Master…"

"But nothing, Sakura!" Tsunade shouted "Don't make me give you a traitor's fate."

The anger emanating from the older woman made Sakura step back. She did not dare press on any further.

"I…I understand, Master Hokage."

With this, Sakura bowed and left.

Tsunade leaned back on her chair and laid her head in her hand. It was quickly turning into a very bad day.

"Aren't you supposed to be peeking on some unfortunate group of girls somewhere?"

"I was about to, but then I passed by and I heard you shouting at that Haruno girl." a voice answered.

From the window behind her, the toad sannin Jiraiya came in.

"You know, you shouldn't be too hard on her."

The old woman raised a brow.

"She disobeyed a directive from the Hokage." She said to the old man "How could I not be so hard on her?"

"I know that, but threatening her with jail and or death? Isn't that going overboard, Tsunade?"

She looked at her old teammate.

"I'm the Hokage, Jiraiya. It is my duty to protect Konoha from all threats, whether it's from inside or out. By continuing to attach herself to Sasuke, Sakura has put the village at risk. Until this whole thing blows over, I can't risk her being used in some nefarious plot.

She is the closest thing I have to a daughter. The last thing I want is for her to get hurt."

Jiraiya was silent for a moment and then smirked. "Spoken like a true Hokage."

The old man started to climb out of the window. Before jumping away, he poked his head back inside.

"I just hope your passion to protect the village will not be affected by your emotions."

* * *

Sasuke was lying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He was like this for most of the day. He really didn't feel like moving much. There wasn't much to do around in the old compound. He couldn't go out and train, seeing the ANBU wouldn't let him go out to the surrounding forest. What was the point of training, anyway? He would probably be dead before it could be of much use.

He heard footsteps coming towards his room and the door opening. He thought it was one of the ANBU.

"Isn't it a bit too early for dinner?"

"I didn't come here to bring you food." A female voice responded.

Sasuke sat up and saw a pink haired girl at his door.

"Sakura?"

"Hi Sasuke. How are you today?" she said with a smile.

The look of surprise in Sasuke's face change from surprise to a scowl. He jumped up to Sakura and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing here?"

"I…I wanted to see you." Sakura said as she tried to get free of his grip. She was surprised at this. During her previous visits, Sasuke would either have a broken, hollow expression, or a somewhat innocent smile, like when a sick child would look like when their mother tenderly looked after them. This was sign of aggression he hasn't shown her since…

…since the night he left.

"Didn't we discuss this already? Didn't I tell you to never come back here again?" Sasuke looked at her in the eye. Personally, he didn't want to talk to her this way. However at this point, that was irrelevant. If she stayed any longer with him, Sakura would probably end up with the same fate as his.

"You're putting yourself in danger by insisting in staying with me. Hasn't your suspension taught you anything?"

Sakura was surprised. "How did you know I was suspended?"

"I heard two ANBU talking a while ago. I heard you were seen leaving the compound some time ago, and that it was reported to the Hokage."

He looked at her straight in the eye. "I don't want you back here, you hear me. I don't ever want to see your face here ever again."

Shock was evident on Sakura's face "But Sasuke I…"

"No buts." he said with Sharingan flaring. "Forget about me. Find someone else. Someone who could love and care for you far more than I could. Go to Lee. He'd give his soul for you. You'll be much happier with him. You'll have a future with him."

"No I won't!" she said as she finally shook of his hand. "Yes, I know Lee loves me. Yes I know he'll go to hell and back for me. Yes I know I'll probably have a better life with him. But no, I wouldn't be happy with him. Do you know why?

Because he's not you. I love you, Sasuke, not Lee. I'd rather have the sad, uncertain life of a traitor and a criminal with you, that a happy, secure existence with someone else."

Sasuke looked at her for a moment then deactivated his bloodline. At this Sakura thought he was finally going to accept her. She was shattered when he merely went past her and stood by the door.

"Get out of my house, Haruno Sakura. You're not welcome here anymore."

Sakura could feel a blade lunge into her heart. Tears fell from her eyes as she slowly walked. She looked up to him as she past him, trying one last time to plead her case.

He did not even meet her eyes.

Using what little strength she had left, Sakura pulled herself out of the room, out of the life of the boy she loved, leaving only the pieces of her broken heart behind.

Sasuke closed the door behind the girl. He stood there for a moment, listening to make sure she had truly left. Convinced he was now alone, he walked to his night stand. Picking up the picture of his broken team, he gazed sadly upon the image of the pink haired girl.

"I'm sorry I did that to you, Sakura. I know how much you love me and I love you the same way. But I am not worthy of you. I've lost my right to a happy life with you the moment I decided to meet with the Sound Four.

I love you Sakura, and I'm sorry."

Tears fell down the last Uchiha's cheeks falling on the image of the girl, making her 'cry' as well.

* * *

Upon a cliff not far from Konoha, a pair of eyes looked upon the quiet village with malice. The opportunity he had been waiting for has finally presented itself. For three years he has waited and now his quest has come to an end. The body he so wanted would soon be his and his dream would soon be realized.

"Kabuto, prepare the men." Orochimaru said with almost a hint of glee in his voice. "I need to go to town to get my eyes checked."

**

* * *

Coming up next:**

**_The enemy is at the gate. The fallen prince has been sentenced, his princess fated to die with him. In an act born of desperation, he races headlong into the darkness in a near impossible attempt to acquire some light of hope. The darkness has clouded the light of the spirit of fire and is beginning to surround and engulf the leaf…_**

…**_and in the midst of all this, a small voice cries out, revealing the innocence of the guilty._**


	6. Thoughts Clouded in Shadow

**Author's notes: **

**Good day everyone. **

**Hopefully, somebody will still be reading this. Here is the next chapter of my Naruto fic. I'm really sorry that it took so long, but when you're a college student, some things have greater priority. Anyway I hope you like this chapter. After reading, please tell me your comments. The story would only have a couple of chapters left and I want to make a very good ending for it.**

**On a side note, I'm also planning to do a Gundam Wing/Gundam Seed Destiny crossover. If there's anyone reading this who has read and/or written such fics, could you please give me some advice. If read some on the site, but almost all of them were never finished.**

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a work of fiction using elements not belonging to the author. All such elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities in the story with places, persons, events, and/or other stories by other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.**

//\\

It was a day like any other in Konoha, but for a single girl, it was the darkest in her short life. Never had she felt so much emotional stress.

As she drudged through busy village streets, her mind went back to the day before. It was when the boy he loved cast her away in the harshest manner yet. For so long Haruno Sakura had tried to win the heart of Uchiha Sasuke, and for so long the he had rejected her. Still she continued; believing love would conquer all. After her latest rebuff, however, the girl was beginning to question the sense in the pursuit of her unrequited love.

'Maybe I should start looking for another. Nothing is going to happen to me if I keep doing this.'

'**Are you nuts?' **a voice inside Sakura shouted. **'He's right in front of you! You finally have him in your grasp. It high time you take what's yours, girl.'**

'No, it wouldn't matter. He doesn't want to be with me. Why should I even waste my time and energy on someone who doesn't care for me? Maybe it is about time I move on.'

'**No way, you do not want to move on. Trust me.'**

'How would you know that?**'**

'**Easy girl. I know because I'm you. SHANNARO!!!'**

Sakura was so deeply engrossed in her talk with her inner self that she didn't notice someone walking straight in front of her. She was suddenly jerked back into reality when she felt herself collide with someone.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to…" she stopped when she a girl on the road "Ino-pig?"

The blond kunoichi looked up. "Oh, hey, Sakura."

Sakura immediately knew there was something wrong with her friend. Whenever they would meet they would always start with the customary insults. Now, the young Yamanaka isn't even as lively as she used to be.

"Ino, is there something wrong? You don't seem yourself today."

"N…no Sakura, nothing's wrong."

"Don't lie to me, Ino." The pink haired medic-nin said, "I can see something is wrong with you. Tell me so I could help you."

"There's nothing wrong." The blond answered, her voice a bit louder. "Quit poking your big forehead on my life, forehead girl."

The blonde started to walk away. Ino had only taken a few steps away when Sakura's voice rang out again. "It's Shikamaru, isn't it."

The girl immediately stopped. Her companion could see her body trembling subtly. She approached her and wrapped her arms around her.

"C'mon, Ino, let's go find a place to talk."

//\\

Silence.

Shadow.

Solitude.

These were the trademarks of his world. These were his companions during a great deal of his days. These will probably even be his only companions during his last moments.

If the common eye were to look upon Uchiha Sasuke today and how he was three years ago, they would be appalled at how far he had fallen from grace. He was the most gifted child of his class, the one with the most potential. None would expect he will end up in a dark room muttering incoherently to himself.

If a trained eye and a keen mind were to look at him, they would not be too surprised. The clues to this fate were numerous, and the foremost was the Uchiha Massacre.

With the death of his entire family, a great number of important things were taken from the young Sasuke. Foremost of all, he lost the love of a mother, the guiding hand of a father, the companionship and affections of a brother, and the fellowship of family. He was left with no one to guide him as he grew up, none to teach him temperance and patience, none to tell him what was right and wrong.

This also left Sasuke with a great sense of betrayal, since it was his own brother, who robbed him of such invaluable things. This instilled in him the desire for vengeance. This desire would be his drive in life, and it would lead him to ruin. He would be so centered on this end, that to deviate from it or lose track of this path would cause him to lose all sense of purpose and leave him confused.

Another clue to this terrible fate was the actions taken by those around him. When his family died, Sasuke had the sympathy of the entire village…

…and ONLY the sympathy of the entire village.

Sasuke was an orphan, and all he got from the people around him here sympathetic stares and heads bowed and shaking. Not one of them tried to take him in. Not one of the many families and clans of the village offered to adopt the boy. No one, in all his adoring public stepped forward and tried to be the family he lost, not even with the ulterior motive of gaining his bloodline.

All he was an icon, a legend, a tragic celebrity. To the people, the last Uchiha was but a star, as such they treated him like it. Girls would swoon over him. Teachers would always commend his works. Bystanders made known to the boy how they admired him.

This combination of 'sympathetic apathy' and bias towards WHAT he was developed a complex in Sasuke.

He was the best. He was the greatest. No one was above him. No one could come close to him. He had no equal. All others were lesser than him. They were just a waste of his time.

They were not friends, they were fans. They were not comrades, they were stepping stones. They were not love interests, they were hindrances. They smile at him, yet their smiles were hollow. They give him the highest marks, for it was a forgone conclusion. They adored him, but never loved him.

He was superior, so they didn't bother to ask how his life was going. He was better, so they didn't think of taking him in when he needed to be. He had no equal, so they didn't bother truly making friends with him. He was alone, and they left him by himself. He was in pain, and they left to bear it alone. He was sad, and they left him to wallow in his sorrow.

No one cared for him.

No one.

For so long he lived like this, then suddenly, something changed. He encountered someone completely different from those he's met. He met a boy no older than him, with blonde hair, orange clothes, and an outrageous obsession with ramen. The boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

The two were the others polar opposite. One was quiet and brooding, the other was loud and obnoxious. One was a genius, the other was a dead last. One was loved, the other was hated.

Even with these contrasts, there was something that linked the two boys. Both grew in sadness and solitude. Both had impressed upon them unwanted attention because of their past. Both were seen for something they were not.

From the moment they met an invisible bond connected the two, though on outside they hated each other's guts. For Naruto, this bond would be one of the strongest he will ever have.

Sasuke at first didn't recognize this bond. He ignored it, and considered it nonsense. But as time went by, he got to know the boy better, and he realized something.

They were the same.

For the first time in so long, the last Uchiha felt something he thought had long disappeared. He felt the ties of family with this young fox-boy. Naruto became important to him, something no one had ever become to Sasuke. Slowly, theses ties extended to others, a certain pink haired kunoichi, for example.

Fate, however, had not been kind to the last Uchiha. So why should it start now?

Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry hid their friendship. Even with this, Naruto acknowledged their bond. Sasuke was a different story. For him his revenge always had the first priority. Even if he considered the blonde as his best friend and a most worthy adversary, it did not take long before he saw him as a threat. He saw how fast his teammate grew in power and he felt threatened by this. He was supposed to be the best, the most powerful, and now a loudmouth idiot was overtaking him.

This is where all those years of apathy and bias would come into play. Sasuke's picture of superiority has been shattered. With his will crumbling, he began to doubt the ability to attain his revenge. As he faltered in his path as an avenger, his mind began to crack. Revenge was all he lived for. Revenge was the reason he existed. Now that he realized how lacking his power was, he was slowly losing his purpose.

Had he been taken in all those years ago, his dark desires would have been mitigate. Had all that he met not have been biased towards him, his obsession for power would not have existed. Had people loved him who he was, instead of what he was, he would have learned to live for something else.

But now it was too late.

The damage has been done.

And it was irreversible.

So obsessed was he for power and revenge, he abandoned his village and deserted his friends. For three years he was a traitor and an enemy. He trained and built up his arsenal. He had cut-off all his attachment so he may focus on what was important. When the time was right, he went out to get his ultimate weapon. The weapon that would guarantee his revenge.

The Mangekyou Sharingan.

To this end, he sent messages to the one person he could give him this. To his pleasure, Naruto came with impeccable timing. They fought in same place they had last fought. Their previous battle was a draw, this time Sasuke was planning it to end differently.

The both of then fought out of sheer determination and desperation. Naruto was determined to bring the wayward Uchiha back and desperate to restore the family he had. Sasuke was determined to attain the power he so long lusted for and desperate not to allow his existence be made meaningless by his opponent.

Both pulled out all their stops. Both gave it their all. And as the dust settled, the avenger lay defeated and the feet of his opponent.

Sasuke knew this was the end. He was prepared to die should he prove no match against the foxboy. Revenge was his purpose in leaving. If he could not defeat Naruto in single combat, what more Itachi. His existence was meaningless. Why then should he continue to take up precious space on this earth.

Naruto, however, had other plans. He knew of the pain and suffering brought by years of solitude and sadness. He knew the anguish of seeing other children go home laughing with their parents while he just stood there and watched. He knew that the only way to be cured of these things is to feel and understand that you are love and are a part of a family.

That was what he did. He reminded Sasuke of the bond of brotherhood they still shared. He reminded him of the bond of love he secretly had with Sakura. He reminded him of the many times and things they shared and how, even though they were not linked by blood, they were a family.

The foxboy's gamble worked. Sasuke saw the error of his ways, surrendered to the leaf genin, and allowed himself to be taken back to Konoha.

A happy ending…

…not quite.

Unbeknownst to the two they had a spectator. Orochimaru followed his insubordinate ward after he left the Sound without his knowledge or permission. He knew Naruto would be an obstacle in his plans, but it has finally come to a point where the obstacle had to be eliminated.

With no other alternative for escape the two gennins had to engage the Otokage. In the middle of the battle Sasuke was knocked out. When he came to, he was horrified to see Naruto hanging by a thread against the attacks of the snake sannin. Immediately he launched himself against the enemy and plunged his Chidori into Orochimaru's chest.

The end result was not what he had expected. Instead of Konoha's most hated enemy, Sasuke killed his blood brother.

And as the last bit of life left Naruto's body, so did sanity leave Sasuke's mind.

He did not want to be like Itachi. In his deranged state he believed what he was doing was not the same as his S-class criminal brother. But now as he looked upon Naruto's cold dead body in his arms, he realized, he had become Itachi.

A murder. A traitor.

So here he sat in the darkness, languishing in his house that was his prison. This would have suited him just fine until a sharp pain shot into his shoulder.

The pain quickly coursed through his body. It shot through his arms and across his torso. He felt like every vein in his body was on fire. He thought he was going to explode with the pain he was feeling.

As suddenly as it began the pain disappeared. Sasuke fell into a sweaty, gasping heap on the floor. His eyes were shut, as if expecting to the torture to return any moment. Nothing came. All that was left was strange sensation on his left shoulder.

Sasuke's body suddenly shot up. His eyes that were closed moment ago were wide open in shock.

"He's here."

//\\

Sakura and Ino were having their little talk at the barbeque restaurant team 10 frequented. More accurately, Ino was wailing her sorrows out as Sakura tried her best to calm the blonde and keep herself from disappearing from embarrassment.

"And then…and then…and then he said he had no time for my ranting. The bastard was just too lazy to say it, but I knew he meant he had no time for ME!"

Ino gave a childish cry before inhaling another serving of rice and barbeque. Sakura should have known better. She just had to bring the blonde wreck to the very place that had the most memories of Shikamaru.

She was about to say something comforting when a scream broke her off. Almost immediately the restaurant emptied to see what the commotion was about. As soon as the pink haired kunoichi stepped out, she was almost hit by the flying body of an ANBU. Looking at the direction it came from, a chill went up and down her spine at what she saw.

A horrifying creature stood at the middle of the road. It looked like a human save for several features. Its skin was grayish-blue and its hair had the color of ash. Its eyes were pools of complete darkness surrounding a yellow center. There was a black, cross-shaped mark running down the bridge of its nose and below the eyes.

These features alone merited fear, but what truly terrified the people were the giant appendages sticking out of its back. They were looked giant hands and functioned as wings. It gave the creature the look and feel of a demon. So stricken by fear was Sakura, that she didn't notice the creature held a resemblance to a certain Konoha prisoner.

At that moment, several jounin and ANBU surrounded the creature. It growled at them and spoke.

"Move! Get out of my way before you get hurt. He's here! I must go to him! I MUST FIND HIM!"

The creature made a move forward. As soon as it took the step the surrounding ninjas through several weighted chains at it. The chains wound themselves around its arms, legs, and neck as the ninja's pulled with all their might. Strangled with its limbs being pulled out of their sockets, the creature fell to its knees and went limp.

Seeing the creature subdued, an ANBU approached with his sword drawn. As he got closer, the creatures head shot up. Arcs of lightning jumped from its skin and skittered along the chains binding it. The ninjas holding the chains cried out in pain as the electricity coursed through their bodies. Feeling his binds loosening, the creature jumped up at the ANBU in front of him and knocked him out with one punch.

Seeing no more opposition, the beast flapped its hand-like wings and began to go airborne. It was just a few meters from the ground when it suddenly stopped and fell to the ground. It tried to move but it found its entire body completely frozen. Behind him, Ino stood with her hands in a familiar position.

"Ninpou: Shinranshin no Jutsu. Don't think you can get away from the two of us that easily, monster."

The beast had only enough time to lift its head before it saw a shadow where he lay. Above him, Sakura flipped in mid-air as she prepared a sky ankle. At the last second before the strike, Ino released her jutsu, as to not get caught in the aftereffects. Sakura struck at her mark, and a cloud of dust erupted.

As the dust settled, it revealed the young Haruno in a split.

"Sakura, did you get it?" Ino shouted.

Sakura's serious face only tightened.

"No."

The dust cloud in front of Sakura parted revealing the beast with a very angry looked on its faced. With a cry it swiped its claws at Sakura. The medic nin quickly leaned back as far as her body's elasticity allowed her, managing the dodge the lethal talons in time. Supporting herself on one hand and twisting her body as she corrected herself, she kicked the beast of its feet and followed it up with a kick to the face as her other leg came around. As soon as her body was off the ground, Sakura back flipped back to Ino.

"This one's fast." the blonde said.

The beast looked at the ninja's before it. Its eyes snapped back and forth between Ino and Sakura before finally resting on Sakura.

"Leave. I don't want to hurt you."

The two ignored it.

"We have to be careful. We don't know what this thing can do."

"No problem. I'll just displace all my anger and frustration at Shikamaru on this one."

Drawing a kunai, Ino charged head long at the beast. Again it tried to swipe at its enemy, but the blonde ducked before the strike could connect. She brought he blade upwards, managing only to splice off a bit of the beast's hair. With one swipe of its wings, it quickly put some distance between it and the kunoichi.

"Oh, no you don't!"

The beast saw Ino pull her hand back as if throwing senbon. It closed its wings in front of it to protect itself. Sure enough, it felt three pricks on the back of its appendage. It drew back its wings to ready itself to lunge, but as soon as it was extended the beast went numb. It fell to its knees as it began to lose all feeling in its body.

"My gift to you." Ino said as she produced a purple flower out of nowhere. "Pretty, isn't it? This flower is also tipped with several plant toxins. Beautiful and deadly, just like me."

It looked at its wings and saw several flowers of the same kind Ino was holding. The beast could only scowl at her.

"Nice one, Ino. Now its my turn."

Holding her hands to her chest, Sakura began to create charka scalpels. Pumping charka into her legs, she launched herself at the beast. The moment she was in striking distance, the young medic nin crisscrossed her glowing hands all over her opponent, severing muscles and ligaments where her hands passed over. As a finishing move, she raised her hands diagonally and brought them down in a crossing motion. The attack was delivered with such force that the beast was thrown of its feet on into a wall.

The two kunoichi stood some distance away. Surely enough, the beast erupted from the debris. This time however, he didn't get far away. With Ino's poison still in effect and Sakura's last attack completely knocking out his muscles, there was nothing much it could besides lay there on the ground.

"Ok, let's finish it off, Sakura."

"Wait, Ino! Something's happening to it."

Sure enough, the monster's form began to change. Its hand-wings and hair began to shrink. Its skin color changed from grey to black. Once its entire body was black, the color began to shrink into several, flame-shaped spots all over its body. The spots began to recede, leaving only the form of a young man. He looked up, onyx eyes looking blankly upon the two kunoichi.

"S…Sasuke?"

Sakura found herself back in the forest of death, looking on helplessly as her beloved was consumed by the cursed seal's chaotic power. Only this time, it was far worse. He has become that monster in the forest once again. Only this time, she knew there was nothing she could do to bring him back.

'Is this how Naruto fell by your hands? How could you, Sasuke. How could you?'

In shock at what she saw, the kunoichi fell to her knees.

"Sakura!"

Seeing her companion fall, Ino quickly went to her side. With the kunoichi occupied, Sasuke began to make his escape. He had hobbled but a few feet when he was beset once again by ANBU. This time he could properly defend himself, and was easily overcome. The captain of the squad that subdued him stepped up to him. The Uchiha eyed the masked face with contempt.

"What are you looking at? Shouldn't you be dragging me back to my house right about now?" he said in an indignant tone.

"No." came the cold reply.

Without knowing why, Sasuke went cold at this answer.

"Uchiha Sauke, under orders of the Hokage, you are now to be executed on the spot."

All were stunned at the statement.

"The Hokage has given us authorization to carry out this sentences should you make any attempt to flee."

At this the ANBU who were holding down Sasuke bent him over so his neck stuck out.

'**They're going to kill him…'**

The ANBU captain drew out his sword.

'…**we can't let them do that…'**

The captain held it above his head, ready to strike down.

'…**we can't let them take Sasuke away from us…**

Sasuke shut his eyes.

…**just like how Naruto was taken from us.'**

The blade went down upon Sasuke, but before it could touch his bare neck it was caught by a gloved hand. He looked up and was surprised at what he saw.

"Sakura?"

The captain glared at the girl.

"Haruno, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Her response was shattering his blade under her grip and giving him an upper cut. Turning to the other members of the squad, she gave them a warning.

"I won't let you take my teammate away from me. I won't let you kill him!"

With a cry she charged against the elite squad. She caught one blade headed towards her and promptly smashed the attackers masked into his face. Two more came from her rear. She did a quick roundhouse and sent them flying against a wall. The last member came at her with two swords swinging. She dodged the strikes before Sakura sliced the blades with her chakra blades. The Anbu could only look at her broken blades before she was sent flying by Sakura's charka charged punch.

She was about to turn back to Sasuke when she felt a cold chill grip her. She suddenly couldn't control her body anymore.

'Stop this Sakura. I don't want to fight you.'

The young Haruno recognized the voice inside her head.

'Ino. Did you use the Shintenshin technique on me?'

'That's right. And with this I could stop you from doing any more stupid things.'

'Stay out of this Ino, it doesn't concern you.'

'The hell it does. I'm not going to stand by and let my best friend throw away her life. There is no way I'm losing you to this insanity like I did Shikamaru.'

Silence stood between the two.

'Ino, you've been a great friend to me…

…Thank you.'

Just as these last words echoed through Sakura mind, Ino felt a massive psychic wave push her out of the pink-hair's body and back into hers. The push was so strong even her sprawled body flew some distance when her spirit reentered.

With all this done Sakura went to Sasuke. She knelt before him and began to heal his wounds. Silence befell the two. It was only a few moments after that that Sasuke found his voice.

"Sakura, why are you doing this?"

She only gave him her most sweetest of smiles.

"It's ok now, Sasuke. Nobody's going to execute you today. "

A sensation alerted Sakura of a presence behind her. Thinking it was another attacker, she swung around to throw another chakra powered punch. A chill went down her spine when her punched was caught. Only one person could counter her punches in such a way. Looking up, her eyes met with the passive ones of the Hokage.

"Sakura, I'm disappointed at you."

As soon as Tsunade spoke these words she backhanded Sakura into a wall. The girl gave a shrill cry before slumping on the road and passing out.

"Sakura!!!"

Sasuke turned to the Hokage with murder in his eyes and launched himself at her. He never got to land a blow as he was hit in the gut by a chakra powered punch, making him cough out blood. Almost instantly another punch was dealt sending him to where his teammate lay.

The last thing he saw was Sakura's unconscious form before oblivion took him.

//\\

The sun had barely set in the west and the news about the incident had spread all over the village. Most could not believe that such fine ninjas could do such a thing, while other lashed out in fury on what they believed as the 'Kyuubi's corruption' of the minds and bodies of their children. Whatever the feelings of the people, it was decreed that the two criminals, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, would be executed the day after tomorrow.

Jiraiya was walking through the forest alone. An hour ago he was in the tower to talk to Tsunade. As he walked to her office he passed by a wailing woman whom Shizune was trying to calm down. The young nin mouthed 'Haruno' and he immediately understood the woman was Sakura's mother. He tried to talk to his old teammate to change the sentence, at least for Sakura, but she would not have any of it. She then threw him out of the window, literally.

He kept on walking with no knowledge where his feet were taking him. He finally came to a clearing where a young woman stood. A quick glance around and he knew where he was and who she was.

"Good afternoon, Lady Hyuuga."

The girl turned, pale lavender eyes looking at the new arrival.

"Good day, Master Jiraiya."

"Are those for him?" he asked pointing at the bouquet of flower in her arms.

"Yes." She said with a smile.

Turning back, Hinata placed the flowers neatly atop Naruto's grave.

"So it is true. You put flowers on his grave everyday."

"Yes, but usually not this much. I was in a mission and I wasn't able to bring him any during the past days. I'm making it up to him with this bunch."

Jiraiya smiled at this, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind missing some flowers, as long as you visit him as often as you can."

Even if he didn't see it, he knew Hinata was smiling.

"Master Jiraiya, may I ask you something?"

"Hm? What do you want to know, Miss Hinata?"

She turned to him.

"Is it true that Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke fought against our ninjas; that both have been declared traitor and are to be executed?"

Jiraiya's face turned grim. "Yes, that's true."

Hinata lowered her eyes, but raised them again to ask another question.

"May I ask what happened?"

Jiraiya ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He began to tell her what he knew from the reports and what he heard from the ninjas and villagers who were there. As she listened, sadness fell over Hinata's face.

"Ah! What the heck is happening?" Jiraiya cried out after telling his tale, "I don't know what to think anymore."

Hinata remained silent and turned to where her beloved lay.

"He would not have wanted this."

The sannin looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Naruto." Hinata said. "Naruto would not want these things to happen at all. He wanted to bring Sasuke back so he could have his family back. He wanted his old gennin days renewed, with Sasuke and Sakura by his side. He would never have agreed to any trial much less an execution. He believed, no, he knew that Sasuke can be turned from Orochimaru, that he could still be saved, that deep within the black avenger was the sorrowful boy who was his brother."

Jiraiya looked at Hinata skeptically.

"I'm surprised to hear those words from you Miss Hinata. Considering what Sasuke has done, you would be the last person I'd expect to hear those words from."

She gave him a small smile.

"Regardless, whatever you or Naruto believed won't be helping Sasuke. Only Tsunade can revoke the order, but seeing as she is now that would be very impossible. In some ways, she's becoming like him. She suffered through the death of the two most valuable people in her life. Loosing Naruto brought back the pain and it has finally driven her over the edge. She just wants revenge for his death."

A sigh escaped the heiress' lips.

"If only there was another way…"

It was at this point that the two ninja's were joined by a spectator. Small toad appeared from the shrubbery, hopped between the two shinobi, and gave out a small croak. Hinata gave out a small giggle at the creature when she saw Jiraiya. The sannin had a look in his face that was as if something had dawn onto him.

"Lady Hyuuga, I have to leave you now."

At this, the toad sannin disappeared.

//\\

Sasuke looked upon on the wall of his small cell. Judging from how much light was filtering from the small window, it was already late afternoon, nearing dusk. It had only been a short time ago since the decision for execution was made known to him. Had it been some other day, it would not have affected him. Today was different. A stirring on his chest made him look down, and caused a tear to fall the same path others like it traveled.

Resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around, was the sleeping form of Sakura. Never had he imagined he would have to cause the destruction of yet another life before he faced his end. It only pained him to no end to know who was going with him to the grave.

A couple of hours ago the two were thrown into the cell. Sakura had not yet fully recovered from the hit she took from her former master but Sasuke still chose this time to scold her for what she had done. Scolding wouldn't have come close to what he did. So enraged was he that his last living teammate would sacrifice her own life for his behalf. I took him almost all his already devastated will not to hit her out of frustration.

To punctuate his tirade he demanded to know what possessed her to do something that was a blatant disregard of her leader, the laws of her village, and her own life and personal well being.

"We are a team." was her reply, "I just couldn't let you die…"

This answer not only angered him but also saddened him as well. Angered, because she still couldn't get the fact that their team no longer existed, and saddened because that was the same reason his fallen brother gave him. She was about to reprimand her again when she continued her answer.

"…and, because I love you."

This was when the dam broke. Tears and emotion erupted from the Uchiha. He took the girl in his arms and held her tight as if she was going to be taken from him; which she would soon be. He wanted so much to tell her what he felt but found that he couldn't. All he could give her were the same words he used to give her.

"You're…so…annoying."

In any ordinary day Sakura would be hurt at this. Today was different. Not only did Sasuke's body language said otherwise, but the words itself. His voice wasn't emotionless or filled with annoyance, rather they were said with sadness, loss, and, very subtly, affection.

And so they ended up at like this, a doomed couple spending their last moments together. It was only a few minutes ago that a guard informed him of their execution date. It was fortunate that she had fallen asleep, lest the news affect her terribly.

Sasuke on the other hand could not fall asleep. The news made the wheels in his head to turn. He was thinking, planning, strategizing. Looking up again, he saw that the light outside had almost gone out. At this he knew the time was right to begin his final mission.

Moving slowly so as to not to wake her, he moved Sakura to the bed and pulled the blanket to her chest. He knelt beside and began to stroke her hair. If he could, he would spend these last hours with her, but he knew he had to do this. He leaned over her sleeping form and gave her her first, and probably last, kiss. Finally, in what was almost a reenactment of that fateful night, he turned from her sleeping form and walked away.

For the second time, Uchiha Sasuke is going to seek out Orochimaru.


	7. The Broken Prince and the Angry Princess

**Authors notes: Hello everyone. I've returned with another installment of this story of mine.**

**This one's been floating around in my hard drive since after the publishing. It was around the same time that my interest in the anime waned. I had actually considered abandoning the story if not for two things. One: I've never been one to give in the middle of something; and two: I played ****Naruto****Shippuuden****Accel**** 2. After seeing how saucy ****Hinata's**** ending pose after her ****ougis**** inspired me to continue.**

**I do have a few things I need to point out about the chapter. First, there are fight scenes in this story and I've never been good at writing fight scenes, so please bear with me. Second, my emotional status has always been an important factor in the quality in of my work. As of now I'm in my last year of college and I do not feel very good. I would like to warn you that this chapter may lack the qualities the previous ones had. Should you find this chapter ****to be of low quality,**** please put your thoughts into the review so ****I could revise this****in ****the ****future**

**Now, without further ado…**

**//\\**

**Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction using elements note belonging to the author. These elements belong to their respective owner/s. Any similarities with people, place, events, and/or stories by other authors, either leaving or dead, are purely coincidental.**

**//\\**

Sakura realized she felt cold. She could feel the blanket wrapped around her body, but that did little to drive away the chill she was feeling. Something was missing. The warmth she fell asleep to was gone. She turned over seeking the warmth, but her hand only fell upon the cold cell bed.

Opening her eyes, the girl soon realized she was alone. The boy she was sharing her cell with was gone. Fearing the worse, she quickly stood up and went the cell doors. Upon reaching the iron bars however, she found the doors were open. Hesitant, she peered outside onto the corridors.

The first thing she saw was an ANBU slumped against the wall not to far away. She race to him and checked if he was still alive. Breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing he was only knocked out, the medic nin looked and saw more unconscious ninja. As she followed the trail, it led her to the wide open prison gates

Seeing this, a horrible feeling entered her heart.

"Oh Sasuke, what have you done?"

//\\

"THEY WHAT…?"

The furious cry of Tsunade echoed through the entire Hokage tower. The night had passed and the news of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura's escape has just reached the Fire Shadow's ears. To say she was enraged was an understatement.

"HOW THE HELL DID THEY ESCAPE?"

"W…we don't know, Master Hokage." came the scared reply of the chunnin unfortunate enough to be picked to be the bearer of bad news. "It looked like Uchiha Sasuke had broken the lock of his cell then proceeded to systematically knock out all of the ninjas guarding the prison. We have yet to figure out what part Haruno Sakura played in the escape."

Tsunade's face was twisting in anger.

"I want hunter nin squads sent out now! I want their heads…"

"You better not finish that sentence, Tsunade."

From a window stepped in Jiraiya, the toad Sannin and Tsunade's teammate.

"This does not concern you, Jiraiya. Stay out of my way."

He only gave her a glance and turned to the other people in the room.

"Please leave us. The Hokage and I need to discuss a few matters."

With all the amount of killer intent in the room, the other ninja's were more that happy to obey. Once everybody else had the old man turned to the genjutsu encased old woman.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING UNDERMINING MY AUTHORITY, JIRAIYA!?"

"I wasn't undermining your authority, Tsunade. I was only preventing you from making a mistake."

"Mistake? What mistake are you talking about?"

"The mistake of sending two innocent children to their deaths."

Tsunade was enraged when Jiraiya entered the room. Now she was furious.

"Innocent? INNOCENT! How dare you call that bastard and his whore innocent?" Tsunade slammed her fist on the table out of frustration. The said piece of furniture shattered into toothpicks.

"Sasuke and Sakura committed no crime, Tsunade. Well, maybe not Sasuke, he did betray the Leaf. But still, even though it was his Chidori that went through Naruto, it was not his desire to kill him. As for Sakura, her only crime was falling in love with Sasuke, and I seriously doubt there is a law against falling in love."

Tsunade's fury grew by every second, fuel not only by Jiraiya's words, but by the way he said it. He spoke in a wry tone, as if saying he understood the situation more, that he was superior to her.

"Has all that lechery rotted your brain? That son of a bitch murdered Naruto, and that slut still clung to him. They both had a hand in killing Naruto, both physically and emotionally. I'll make them pay for what they did to him. I'll make them suffer. I'll make them go through all that they put Naruto go through. I will have my revenge…"

As soon as the last word escaped her lips, Tsunade felt Jiraiya's hand hit her face. She looked at him with anger burning in he eyes. He looked at her with the same eyes he's been looking at her with.

"Do you realize what you're saying? You're already turning into Sasuke."

The last sentence reverberated within the Hokage's head. Her body suddenly went cold.

_'I'm becoming like that __bastard__? No! __Jiraiya__ is wrong. I'm not like him. All I want is justice for __Naruto__…'_

She looked up and saw Jiraiya looking down at her. She remembered that looked. She had seen that look on her sensei's face thousands of times. It was the look the Sandaime had whenever he was disappointed. The only difference was she would see that look aimed at Jiraiya. This time, it was aimed at her.

"Stop looking at me like that." She said with a threatening tone. Her teammate still looked at her.

"Stop looking at me like that! I'm not like him."

"Are you? You seemed dead set on killing him you didn't seem to matter who got pulled along for the ride, Sakura for example."

"Th…that's different…"

"Is it? Sasuke was willing to betray the leaf and kill Naruto to get his revenge. You were willing to send anyone who sympathized with him to the gallows along with him. That doesn't seem so different to me."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, JIRAIYA! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M FEELING…"

Tsunade fell to her knees. For the first time in so long she felt old, even older than how she really was. She was shaking all over and tears were falling freely from her eyes. In the back of her mind, she knew he was right. She desired revenge, and was willing to do everything to get it.

"…Dan…Nawaki…I could do anything when they died. I couldn't even avenge their deaths. Now Naruto…I don't want to feel helpless again, Jiraiya. I don't want to stand by helplessly again as someone I love lies six feet under. I don't want to…"

She fell silent when Jiraiya wrapped his arms around her. Tsunade began to cry on his shoulder. She felt tired, so tired.

"I feel the same way, but this course of action will only bring you more sadness."

He slowly lifted her face to his.

"Tsunade, there is something you need to know about the fight…"

//\\

Trees blurred in front and to his sides. He was moving so fast he wasn't even thinking to move his limbs. It all came automatically. He didn't have time to think about how his leg was going to land into a branch.

He knew his target was close; his instincts told him. Unfortunately, his senses said otherwise. There was no charka signature, no presence felt, no tell tale sign of what he was looking for. He had been traveling all night and for half a day. He would have at least encountered his entourage by now.

He had just leapt from a branch when he felt a presence. It didn't felt like an Oto ninja's, but it could be masked. He quickly descended to the ground and turned around.

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE" he shouted to the trees. "COME OUT!!!"

There was rustling in the leaves above, then somebody dropped from the branches. Standing in front of him was Sakura. This alarmed Sasuke. Thinking it was a ninja wearing a genjutsu, he activated his bloodline. The sharingan revealed otherwise. There was no genjutsu, it was the real Sakura.

"Sakura?" he expression was first that of surprise then of anger. "What are you doing here, Sakura?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, Sasuke." Sakura's reply was cold as ice.

"This is none of you concern" he said angrily, "Go back to Konoha."

"Not until you tell me what you are planning to do."

"You don't need to know Sakura; this is something I have to do alone. Go back to the village. At least there you'll be safe for a few more hours."

Knowing he was wasting time with the girl, he just tuned around and began to walk away. With his back turn, he didn't see Sakura grit her teeth and clench her fist. Sasuke had only taken a few steps when a strong 'tug' on his shoulder caused him to tip back, turn around, and slam his cheek on into an oncoming, charka-enhanced fist. The strike sent him flying into and straight through a tree.

Did I mention it was a very big tree?

Dazed from the sudden strike, the boy could only give an uncharacteristic yelp when he was pulled by the feet from the tree trunk and slammed onto the ground. Again he lifted up by his feet and slammed on the ground at the opposite side of the girl. She then threw him into the air, grabbed him by the shirt in mid flight and threw him on the ground with enough force to make a small crater. Sakura was quick to straddle him on his chest and began to pound his face.

"I…am…so…sick…and…tired…of…that…damned…attitude." The young woman said between each punch. Gripping him by the shirt collar, she lifted his torso a bit before slamming him back down in frustration.

She crouched down so his face was inches from hers and returned to shouting again. "Damn it, Sasuke. Hasn't the time you spent with Naruto and me taught you anything? Why won't you for once stop being an avenger? Why won't just quit your damned quest revenge. Why won't you for once act like you have a heart?"

Silence fell between the two. Sasuke was still for a few seconds, his eyes shadowed.

"My heart?" he spoke suddenly. "You want to know why I act so cold, distant and HEARTLESS. I'LL TELL YOU! The last time I had ever been warm to someone, every last member of my family was killed by him. The last person I ever got close to died by my hand. The only woman I allowed myself to fall in love with is now going to be executed with me."

Sakura was shocked by the last statement

"If the only way for me to keep the people I care for, if the only way for me to keep you, is to be heartless, then so be it. I will destroy my heart."

Again silence fell upon the two. To Sasuke, Sakura's eyes were shadowed, hidden from his view by her bangs and lowered head. Tears flowed down her cheeks, falling from her face to his.

"You loved me?" she said suddenly, her eyes still shadowed, "Since when?"

He was taken aback by question. Only now did he realize that he had unintentionally confessed his feelings to her.

"I…don't know." Sasuke answered with a cracking voice,"I just saw you coming towards the bridge one morning all those years back and realized I loved you. I chose never to do anything about it because at the time I thought it would only be a distraction for me…"

There was a throb in his chest. A tear fell from his eye.

"…and, deep inside, I was afraid that if I did pursue that love, I might only loose you like I did my family."

Sasuke had poured his heart out to Sakura, something that he never dreamt he would be capable of doing. She slowly got off him, allowing him to sit up. The girl knelt in front of him, her body visibly shaking. The boy was expecting her explode on him again.

"Then why?"

A question. He wasn't expecting that.

"Why did you leave me in that cell? Why didn't you take me with you? If you cared so much for me, why did you abandon me to die?" Sakura was confused. She wanted so desperately to believe that all he said was true, that all her dreams and fantasies were finally becoming real, that Uchiha Sasuke really did love her. Unfortunately, his recent actions spoke otherwise. He might as well be doing this as a diversion to give him an opening so he could kill her and continue his escape.

"I…I can't tell you that."

She knew it!

"Then to hell with you."

Pushing down the hope she had, Sakura summoned all her strength and slammed her fist into Sasuke. The boy had been expecting the strike, but not at the speeds it came in. He knew Sakura wouldn't let him go just because he confessed his long, hidden love for her. She may be a girl, but she was also a kunoichi. She was smarter than that. Sasuke hoped he could put her down without having to use the Sharingan, but she was forcing him to use it. This would give him an unfair advantage over her, but if he didn't hurt and stop her today, she would be dead tomorrow.

Sasuke twisted his body so his feet skidded along the ground, stopping him before he hit any other trees. Crouching low and covering his face, he looked up to her with his Sharingan flaring. Just in time, as Sakura was once again running towards him. With his doujutsu activated, he could clearly see her coming towards him like she was in slow-motion. Once she came in range, he moved to block her attack and counter with his own.

But no attack came. Sakura was about to launch it when something large and red came between her and Sasuke and slammed her into a tree. Sasuke screamed her name when she disappeared from his vision and turned to where the red streak was heading. He saw Sakura held against a tree by a large spiky beast.

"That was close, wasn't it Sasuke?"

From the shadow came a grey haired, bi-spectacled young man clad in violet. A forehead protector with a note carved on it adorned the top of his head. He approached Sasuke casually.

"Kabuto, what are you doing here?" the last Uchiha asked.

"Why, I'm here to get you back of course" he answered then looked to where Sakura was being pinned to a tree. "It seemed I was just in time too. She seemed quite intent on finishing you off. Quite a surprise actually, I wasn't expecting Sakura to be so willing to take you on, much less try to kill you."

He turned away and shrugged, "Oh, well. Come along now Sasuke, Orochimaru is waiting. My companion will take care of her."

As he said this, the beast began to strangle Sakura. She gasped for breath as she struggled to break free. This only made the beast tighten its hold around her neck. Sasuke saw this and turned to Kabuto.

"Kabuto! Tell your minion to let her go!"

The Sound nin looked at him. "This is quite out of character for you, Sasuke. You seem genuinely concerned for her. Come now Sasuke, we have very little time for these games of yours. I have to take you back before our great leader gets angry."

Kabuto turned around. Sakura let out a throaty cry. Again Sasuke shouted, "I'm serious Kabuto! Tell your minion to let Sakura go."

He turned around with looked of annoyance mixed with arrogance. "And what are you going to do Sasuke? Are you actually planning to take her along? You and I both know Orochimaru would not allow it. She would be dead within a minute of coming in front of him. Better she quickly die now than later from being experimented on."

The beast tightened its grip on the girl's neck, making her cry out again. In desperation, Sasuke pulled out a kunai.

"And what are you going to do?" Kabuto asked, "My companion has the Cursed Seal, as you clearly must have noticed. Mere weapons such as that would have no affect on him."

"Who said anything about using it on him?" At that Sasuke twirled the weapon until the point was at neck. "One more time Kabuto, let her go. If Sakura dies, I die with her."

"Please stop playing around." the bespectacled nin said. It was becoming apparent he was losing his cool. "I highly doubt you'd let yourself die before getting your revenge."

"Are you sure, Kabuto? I've accepted long ago the possibility of me failing in my revenge, so it won't really be much of a deal to me if I die now. Orochimaru, unfortunately, is very sore about not getting what he wants. I highly doubt he's accepted the possibility of failing in acquiring my body."

Sasuke pushed the kunai loser to his neck until it drew blood. With a grin, he mocked Kabuto. "Well, Kabuto? Are you that confident you could live through Orochimaru throwing a fit about losing his chance at getting his goal?"

Kabuto clenched his fists. For all he knew the boy was just bluffing. Still, it would be far more than disastrous for him if he did kill himself. It was quite a predicament he was in, and he can't help but smile. It was very devious of the young genin to put him in such a position. He learned well from Orochimaru.

Deciding to choose the lesser evil, the Oto nin signaled for his minion to release the girl. Giving him one last glare, Sasuke went straight to Sakura and took her into his arms. She was coughing and gasping.

"Breathe, Sakura. Breathe."

A few more gasps and Sakura's breathing returned to normal. He couldn't help but feel relieved. This relief, however, was short lived. The shadow of Kabuto and his minion befell them.

"Ah, how sweet. So sweet in fact it's sickening." Kabuto said with a sneer on his face. "What happens to her from here on out will be your fault, Sasuke. Don't say I didn't warn you about what Orochimaru would do to her."

He then looked at the pink haired girl. "You were a fool to have followed him, Haruno Sakura. He left you in your cell to save you from what happened just a while ago. You might have even lived to a ripe old age had you not been so impulsive. Now you will suffer a most gruesome fate in the hands of the destroyer of Konoha."

The Sound nin started to walk away. With one hand the minion pulled Sasuke, who still had Sakura in his arms, up to his feet and 'lightly' pushed him into following.

"Don't worry, Sakura." Sasuke whispered quietly. "I'll find a way to get you back to Konoha."

These were the last words she heard before oblivion consumed her.

//\\

Teams Gai, 10, and what was left of team 8 were in the Hokage's office. Tsunade stood before the eight ninja's assembled before her. They were all young, not even pass their teen years, and they were the best of their generation. She had chosen them also because of their experience and connections with their objectives.

"As you may have already heard, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura have escaped from prison. I'm assigning the eight of you the mission of finding them and bringing the both of them back here. Hyuuga Neji, you will be in command of the team, seeing as Nara Shikamaru is no longer with us."

Ino felt her heart ache a bit at the name of her former teammate, but she pushed it aside.

"Master Hokage, are we to eliminate the fugitives should they resist?" Neji asked.

"No." came the quick reply, "You are to subdue them should they resist but they must be returned alive."

The obvious surprise at her answer was expected by Tsunade so she continued.

"I'm sure that all of you are surprised that I want them back alive, seeing as my recent actions spoke otherwise. Most of you would have wanted a shot at Sasuke, because of his transgressions against your circle of friends. So now I will tell you my reason for this decision.

I have recently been given evidence that may exonerate Sasuke of the crime of Naruto's murder. Before any of you react I want you to know that even I have doubts about this, no matter how reliable the source may be. Still, if there is a possibility of it being true, as Hokage it is my duty to prevent my ninjas from being punished for something they did not do. At the same time, there are resources within Konoha that would allow us to verify this new evidence, but Uchiha Sasuke needs to be alive in order for that to happen.

You are some of the best we have; at the same time you have experience both with this kind of mission and with the targets. This would increase the chances of your mission's success. Still, due to the nature of the mission, I'm allowing you to turn down this mission if you feel you don't want to do it."

Silence fell within the room. Tsunade looked at the ninja assembled before her. Their faces showed steely determination and focus. They all seemed to have made up their minds

//\\

The world was a groggy blur when Sakura came to. As her vision focused she saw orange light filtering through the canopy of trees. The color of the light and trees whizzing by told her that it was already sunset and that she was already several miles from Konoha. She pulled her head up, realizing it was hanging the wrong way.

"You're awake, that's good."

She looked up and met Sasuke's onyx eyes.

"You were out for almost an hour. It's good to see you're okay, Sakura."

Sasuke's face was full of relief and a hint of joy at her return to consciousness. A smile even graced his normally frowning lips. Sakura however was not the least bit glad to see this. She looked to the front and saw Kabuto's almost blurred back. She turned her head and saw the red monster bringing up the rear

"Where are you taking me?" she asked Sasuke, not bothering to luck up to him.

Sasuke's smiled disappeared. "I'm taking you to where Orochimaru is."

Her eyes narrowed at his responce. "So you are taking me to your master to be judged."

"No, Sakura!" Sasuke almost yelled, "Why can't you understand that I had no choice. If I left you back there they would have killed you. I don't want to see you die."

Sakura only kept silent. Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it, Sakura. I'm not trying to hurt you. Why won't you believe that I'm trying to save your life?"

She finally looked up at him. "You're taking me to someone who wants destroy Konoha and everyone in it and almost succeeded; the very same one who killed our former leader and an undisclosed number of leaf ninjas and civilians. You're the prodigy. You figure it out."

Sasuke wanted to say something back, but found that he couldn't. She was right. By all accounts what he was doing looked like he was bringing the pink haired girl to her executioner, like a lamb to the slaughter. He knew there was nothing he could say right now that would justify what he was doing. He was a fool to think he could convince her that what he was doing was for her own good.

A few more minutes of silence and the group came to a large clearing. All over the clearing and on the trees were thousands of Sound ninjas. They all stood on tree branches, and each branch was occupied until the top. As they looked around the two prisoners felt like they were looking up from a deep, dark pit; a pit that had demons all over its walls.

Even Sasuke was stunned. He knew Orochimaru would come after him, but he didn't expect him to come with a veritable army. It was then that a thought entered the two young leaf shinobi's mind, and the realization made their blood turn cold.

This wasn't a retrieval team, it was an invasion force.

The brute behind them pushed Sasuke and Sakura forward and forced them to kneel before a man seated in the middle of the clearing.

"Ah, Sasuke. You've finally arrived." Orochimaru said from his gilded chair. "And look who we have here. Haruno Sakura, how good of you to join us. Tell me, how is my old hag of a former teammate."

"Royally pissed when she finds out you're here." The leaf nin said, making sure to add some spittle with every word.

Orochimaru's grin grew wider. "She could be angry all she wants. In a matter of hours her rage wouldn't matter anymore."

He made a gesture to no one in particular. A ninja materialized beside him, carrying a long object covered in cloth. He took it and tossed it in front of Sasuke.

"I'm disappointed, Sasuke. I went through a lot of trouble making this for you and you just left it behind."

Sasuke took the bundle, untied the string and took off the covering. In his hands was sword. It had no guard, making the handle look flush to the scabbard. It was as long as a katana, but without the characteristic curve.

"That Kusanagi is a work of art." The snake Sannin continued. "It shouldn't be left just lying around gathering dust."

Sasuke's gaze left the sword and went to his master. "Thanks, I'll remember that."

As soon as the last words lipped out of his mouth, Sasuke drew the sword. Even before anyone could react to the sound of metal being drawn, the last Uchiha had disappeared from the spot he was kneeling. The sound of metal hitting metal sent the eyes of onlookers to where Orochimaru's throne was. There they saw the Otokage and the last Uchiha crossing Kusanagi swords.

Sasuke pushed his blade with all his might, trying to break the defense and cut the flesh of his master. Orochimaru's only held a grin, which widened every second. Slowly the boy's sword came ever closer to the older man's neck. The blades shook as the two struggled. Finally, the shaking stopped.

Sasuke suddenly found himself stumbling forward as Orochimaru vanished before him. With nothing holding it back, the boy's sword buried itself into the chair in its path. The prodigy then heard the sound of something cutting through air. He moved his head just in time to see the thin blade of Orochimaru's Kusanagi pass inches in front of his eyes. The boy jumped back with all his might, managing to dislodge his sword in the process. Seeing his former student fall back, the otokage threw his arm forward. Thousand of snakes burst from within his sleeve, slithering amongst themselves and towards Sasuke. The last Uchiha swung his sword at serpents, cutting off the heads of some, but they were too numerous and he soon found himself covered with them.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat upon seeing Sasuke being overwhelmed by the snakes. She made a mad dash to where he was but was stopped when light erupted from within the serpent coils. Pieces of fried snake flew everywhere courtesy of Sasuke's Chidori Current. As soon as he hit the ground the prodigy began pumping chakra through his legs and sped towards the snake Sannin. Orochimaru looked on as his former pupil charged towards him with sword at hand. He lifted his hands and opened his mouth inhumanly wide. With a big lurch forward, snakes ones again appeared, this time erupting from both hands and from his mouth. As they sailed through the air the reptiles opened their mouths, bringing forth long gleaming blades.

A tidal wave of serpents came roaring towards Sasuke. The last Uchiha carried on undeterred. Sending his chakra to his left hand, lightning began to crackle between his fingers. The arcs began to enlarge and take shape. Putting more control into his chakra, he made his lightning chakra sword larger and longer, shaping it into a long blade many times his size. With a cry the lightning chakra sword went downward, effectively parting the wave of snakes and swords down the middle. With this obstacle gone, Sasuke sped headlong for his target. Lightning from his Chidori arced around him, truning him into a lightning bolt heading inexorably to hit his mark.

And hit his mark he did. Bursting through the snakes he ran his hand through Orochimaru's stomach, the Chidori bursting from the other side of the body. Residual lightning from the jutsu sliced through the snake Sannin's sides, completely severing his torso from his legs. Not content with slicing his opponent into two, Sasuke brought his sword down in a wide arc, slicing down the middle of the first, two pieces. Finally, with a swift turn of his body, he swung his blade above his head, decapitating the two torso pieces simultaneously. The quartered body fell on the ground in a bloody heap.

Silence fell upon the clearing. Sasuke looked at the bloody slabs of meat at his feet and felt a sense of accomplishment mixed with disbelief. It would appear that he had been victorious. It felt strange to him. He was not expecting such an easy win.

Sasuke quickly brought himself out of his thoughts. He removed his shirt and ripped the front. He put the ripped garment on the ground and carefully placed the two halves of Orochimaru's head on it. He tied the end together tightly; making sure nothing would fall off. With the package tied and ready, he went to where Sakura was. Sakura stood unmoved since Sasuke escaped the snake coils. She was amazed at the level of skill the young Uchiha had demonstrated. She could not believe he had defeated one of the Legendary Sannin in single combat. And though she had been cold to him before, she was truly worried about him during the fight. And now that it was over, she was relived and happy he had won.

Sasuke went to Sakura and offered a hand to the girl. She took the hand and let herself to be pulled up. A smile was dancing on the Uchiha's lips. He looked happy and relived, as if a great had been removed from his shoulders. Finally, Sakura was able to find her voice.

"You've…won."

"Yes I have." He said, slowly lifting his hand to caress her cheek. He then continued, in an almost breaking voice, "Now, we could go home."

The two then heard clapping. The turned and saw Kabuto clapping his head and looking at them with a strange look.

"Very good, Sasuke. You've fought well. I personally never thought you've risen to this level of power, being able to meet a Sannin on level ground. Unfortunately, you can't go just yet…"

At this point Sasuke began to feel the package he was holding move. He looked down just in time to see several snakes bursting out from the cloth sack. The serpents latched their jaws on to him and Sakura. Almost immediately, the two teens felt their bodies go numb and their feet give way. The serpent's paralyzing venom quickly worked its way through their bloodstreams. Their bodies felt like it was on fire and were wracked with spasms. Their breathing became haggard and labored. With blurry eyes, Sasuke saw the earth beside Kabuto swell and grow. It began to form features, slowly turning into something he didn't want to see again. His eyes grew wide, making them hurt.

"…and this battle isn't over." Orochimaru said with a sadistic smile on his face.


End file.
